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Oct. 13th, 2004
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Ken Caminiti
Oct. 13th, 2004 05:34 amThis is a sad story.
Ken Caminiti was a big man; he looked more like a football player than a third baseman. He came to San Diego in a twelve-player trade with Houston in the winter of 1994. He had a reputation as a solid defensive player and a steady but unspectacular slugger, someone you could rely on for a .300 average and 25 to 30 home runs (which, in those days, was a respectable total). His first year with the Padres, he lived up to that reputation, but his performance improved sharply in 1996. At one point that summer, the Padres played the New York Mets in a three-game series in Monterrey, Mexico. Before the third game, Caminiti was so dehydrated that the trainer had him flat on his back with an IV drip in his arm. When game time came, Caminiti pulled the needle out and took the field. That day, he drove in four runs with two mammoth home runs, and the Padres coasted to an 8-0 win. San Diego finished the season in first place in the National League Western Division; Caminiti hit 40 home runs, drove in 130 runs, and had an on-base percentage of .408 and a slugging percentage of .621, and he was a unanimous choice as Most Valuable Player, the first in Padres history.
In retrospect, perhaps we should have known that something was going on. During the following two seasons, Caminiti reverted to form: solid, but unspectacular. He was a star on San Diego's pennant-winning team of 1998, but his performance in the World Series was pitiable. The Padres, caught in one of their recurrent financial crises, let him go after the season. He remained in the majors for another three years, playing for Houston again and for Atlanta and Texas.
After retiring in 2001, Caminiti admitted that he had taken steroids during the 1996 season, and touched off a furor by claiming that as many as half of all major league players did likewise. His problems with drugs were not over. It seemed that when he wasn't in court, he was in rehab - alcohol, cocaine, steroids again. He had been an intense player; baseball had been his consuming passion, and without it he was lost.
Ken Caminiti died last Sunday, aged 41. The cause of death was given as a heart attack.
Rest in peace, big guy. We won't forget.
Ken Caminiti was a big man; he looked more like a football player than a third baseman. He came to San Diego in a twelve-player trade with Houston in the winter of 1994. He had a reputation as a solid defensive player and a steady but unspectacular slugger, someone you could rely on for a .300 average and 25 to 30 home runs (which, in those days, was a respectable total). His first year with the Padres, he lived up to that reputation, but his performance improved sharply in 1996. At one point that summer, the Padres played the New York Mets in a three-game series in Monterrey, Mexico. Before the third game, Caminiti was so dehydrated that the trainer had him flat on his back with an IV drip in his arm. When game time came, Caminiti pulled the needle out and took the field. That day, he drove in four runs with two mammoth home runs, and the Padres coasted to an 8-0 win. San Diego finished the season in first place in the National League Western Division; Caminiti hit 40 home runs, drove in 130 runs, and had an on-base percentage of .408 and a slugging percentage of .621, and he was a unanimous choice as Most Valuable Player, the first in Padres history.
In retrospect, perhaps we should have known that something was going on. During the following two seasons, Caminiti reverted to form: solid, but unspectacular. He was a star on San Diego's pennant-winning team of 1998, but his performance in the World Series was pitiable. The Padres, caught in one of their recurrent financial crises, let him go after the season. He remained in the majors for another three years, playing for Houston again and for Atlanta and Texas.
After retiring in 2001, Caminiti admitted that he had taken steroids during the 1996 season, and touched off a furor by claiming that as many as half of all major league players did likewise. His problems with drugs were not over. It seemed that when he wasn't in court, he was in rehab - alcohol, cocaine, steroids again. He had been an intense player; baseball had been his consuming passion, and without it he was lost.
Ken Caminiti died last Sunday, aged 41. The cause of death was given as a heart attack.
Rest in peace, big guy. We won't forget.
Today, I got another package from Amazon. (There are a total of four on their way, two from Amazon USA and two from Amazon UK.) It contained:
- Season 4 of "Angel" - possibly their best season, marked by the Rain of Fire, the return of Angelus and of Faith, and the Jasmine arc;
- a Skeeter Davis CD containing, among other things, "The End of the World" (her best-known single) plus covers of "Blueberry Hill", "Son of a Preacher Man", and "Angel of the Morning". (Or was she the first to record that last one? Answer: no.);
- Mr. Mister's "Welcome to the Real World", including "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings";
- John Barnes' Earth Made of Glass, the sequel to A Million Open Doors (which I reviewed a while ago); and
- Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times by Geoffrey Nunberg, a regular on the American Dialect Society list.
Methinks I'll be occupied for the next while...
(A couple of days ago, I picked up CDs by Chicago and Boston as well; with the Carole King album that's coming in the next package, I'll be close to enough for another playlist.)
- Season 4 of "Angel" - possibly their best season, marked by the Rain of Fire, the return of Angelus and of Faith, and the Jasmine arc;
- a Skeeter Davis CD containing, among other things, "The End of the World" (her best-known single) plus covers of "Blueberry Hill", "Son of a Preacher Man", and "Angel of the Morning". (Or was she the first to record that last one? Answer: no.);
- Mr. Mister's "Welcome to the Real World", including "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings";
- John Barnes' Earth Made of Glass, the sequel to A Million Open Doors (which I reviewed a while ago); and
- Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times by Geoffrey Nunberg, a regular on the American Dialect Society list.
Methinks I'll be occupied for the next while...
(A couple of days ago, I picked up CDs by Chicago and Boston as well; with the Carole King album that's coming in the next package, I'll be close to enough for another playlist.)
