He was also arrested a number of times with drugs in his possession. The late Ken Caminiti had two tours of duty with the Astros, from 1987-94 and 1999-00. At 10:13 a.m., a call was made from Caminiti's cellphone to Gonzalez's apartment. "He came over and gave me a bear hug like you wouldn't believe, and as he was hugging me, he says, 'Well, I let you down. Leaf Art of Sport Ken Caminiti Museum of Materials 4/5 . Preliminary news reports indicated he died of a heart attack, but the autopsy results stated that acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates caused his death, with coronary artery disease and cardiac hypertrophy (an enlarged heart) as contributing factors. He had played 15 seasons in major league baseball with the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, and Atlanta Braves. Ken and my Grandson at the Astro Dome.Houston Tx. During his tenure with Houston, he was injured several times, yet he hit 18 home runs in 1994, which earned him his first All Star Game selection. At 3:36 pm, a 911 call was made while Caminiti was going into cardiac arrest. He went on to play for another 15 seasons after that. This made him struggle with the Texas Rangers, so he was released and finished his career with the Atlanta Braves. He was unable to give his all during his second stint with Houston due to a variety of ailments. He started using cocaine later on, but his main vice by 1990 was crack cocaine. However, going through the life of Ken Caminiti, we can say that one of the reasons was his struggle with substance abuse. He was born and raised in California and had US citizenship. We could have gone to Queens. We were talking. He was the youngest of three children. Ken. In 1983 and 1984, he was a member of the Spartans baseball team. Moving on to his family, he was born to his father, Lee Caminiti, and his mother, Yvonne. Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever - Ebook written by Dan Good. Caminiti, who . Caminiti was plagued with several injuries throughout his tenure in Houston, but he still hit 18 home runs in 1994 which earned him his first All Star Game selection. Ken was considered one of the very few players who was born to play the game. The switch-hitting Caminiti also became the first player to ever have three games with a home run from each side of the plate,[5] remarkably having entirely done so over a single four game span. The Ethingtons describe Caminiti as a surrogate son. Till 2001, baseball players were free to use any performance-enhancing drugs they wanted. Ken Caminiti Signed 8x10 Zenith Card #7 Auto Astros 3x All Star Deceased. "We just wound up over there. "His ultimate goal was to get rid of all the drugs and be clean for 2, 2 years, and then -- he told me this himself -- he wanted to start courting his ex-wife and see if they could get back together again. In his debut, he went 2-3 with a home run, a triple, and scored the game-winning run. Ken had a brother named Glenn and a sister named Carrie. In July 1987, he made his major league debut with the Houston Astros. Also Read: Biography of David Bell. They might have even tried to solve this problem, but addiction is not a joke. SPONSORED. After the 1994 season, Caminiti was traded by the Astros, in part to cut payroll and get younger, to the San Diego Padres in a 12-player trade (the biggest trade in terms of number of players moved since 1957),[4] along with Steve Finley, Andjar Cedeo, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams, and a player to be named later (PTBNL), in exchange for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutirrez, Pedro Martnez, Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley. Ken had a successful baseball career, and as a result, he amassed a sizable fortune. Caminiti is the Padres All-Time leader in slugging percentage (.540) and OPS (.924). He admitted in 1994 to having a problem with alcoholism and checked himself into a rehabilitation center in 2000. "He was able to help her. Caminiti died at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx at 6:45 pm. His funeral services were held in Solana Beach, California. (U-T file) Writer began chasing story of Padres Hall of Famer a decade ago. But his move to the minor league was not permanent as he played for the Houston Astros from 1987 to 1994. "That's about it.". He was named the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) with San Diego in 1996, and is a member of the Padres Hall of Fame. Based on his life story and journey, his documentary is titled The Rise and Fall of Ken Caminiti.. The call was to Angel Gonzalez. He again returned to Houston Astros but only played two seasons before joining the Texas Rangers in 2001. In the early afternoon of October 10, 2004, Caminiti was in the apartment of a friend in The Bronx, New York City. Five days before he died on Oct. 10, 41-year-old Ken Caminiti walked out of the Harris County Jail in Houston, where he had spent four weeks for violating his probation by testing positive for drugs. Ken Caminiti is one of the best baseball players in the 90s. He graduated from high school in the year 1981. He requested his release from the Rangers,[3] which was granted on July 2. He played on the team for a year. During their tenure, he depicted a career statistic of 983 runs batted in, 239 home runs, and a batting average of .272. Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 - October 10, 2004) was an American third baseman who spent 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1987-1994, 1999-2000), San Diego Padres (1995-1998), Texas Rangers (2001) and Atlanta Braves (2001). He was the first player in franchise history to win the National League MVP. In 1995, at the age of 32, he reached career highs at the plate by hitting .302 with 26 home runs and 94 RBIs in his first season for the Padres, winning his first of three consecutive Gold Glove Awards. Through those early years his biggest fan and regular chauffeur was his mother, Yvonne. Wedding, Kids & Girlfriends. He attended San Jose State University where he played baseball for the Spartans in 1983 and 1984. During his second tenure with Houston, he could not give his best due to several injuries. He disclosed that in 1996, when he had a shoulder injury and still wanted to play, he drove to Mexico and bought steroids and self-administered it, not aware of the cycles and how to use them. "Like Ken Caminiti so many times with the San Diego Padres, Dan Good has gone deep with this exhaustive biography of the 1990s slugger. "He never told me that they were engaged, had any plans to be married, and ever since the first month that they started seeing each other, the only thing I ever heard about were problems that he was having with Maria and the problems he was having trying to get rid of her and not having to support her any more.". Time may go on but one thing is for sure, Ken Caminiti became the largest martyr in MLB history and his memory will live on through those that knew him best. In February, 2003, Caminiti tested positive for cocaine while already on probation for cocaine possession and was ordered to visit a Texas Department of Criminal Justice-operated treatment program. He finished his career in 2001 with the Atlanta Braves. With liters of intravenous fluid received alongside a Snickers bar, Caminiti hit two home runs in the victory over the Mets. On October 10, 2004, Caminiti was in his friends apartment, where he took cocaine and heroin. He also coached the Padres minor-league players, and helped them to get to the World Series in 1998. San Diego Padres. ", "He didn't look like he was overdosing," Gonzalez said. Ken Caminiti had been told to stay away from drugs and Maria Romero, but ignored the warnings. A super pro street 55 chev and his motorcycle. Birthplace. In a Sports Illustrated cover story in 2002, a year after his retirement, Caminiti admitted that he had used steroids during his 1996 MVP season, and for several seasons afterwards. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A switch-hitter, he had a career batting average of .272 with 239 home runs and 983 runs batted in. The powerful story of Ken Caminiti, who changed baseball forever as the first player to confess to having used performance-enhancing steroids In Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever, writer Dan Good seeks to make sense of MLB MVP Ken Caminiti's fascinating, troubled life.Good began researching Caminiti in 2012 and conducted his . Watch. $16.87. Ken was one of the best third basemen of his time, and he played Major League Baseball for 15 seasons till the end of his career and, sadly, his life. Ken Caminiti, the National League's most valuable player in 1996 but an admitted steroid user in his playing days and a cocaine user in recent years, died Sunday in the Bronx. Ken Caminiti of the San Diego Padres bats during an MLB game versus the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois during the 1998 season. Despite an injury forcing Walling to the disabled list in mid-June, the Astros did not call up Caminiti, instead trading for the veteran Buddy Bell. At the time of his death he survived by his large extended friends and family. "He just came to talk to my son to try to help him out of running with the wrong crowd, stuff like that," Silva said. [18], Caminiti struggled with substance abuse throughout his career, as he had started drinking alcohol in middle school and smoking marijuana in high school. Daughter of Astros star Ken Caminiti writes about racism she witnessed while living in Pecan Grove Nicole Caminiti calls out racism in the Pecan Grove community. SPONSORED. Besides, he had a slim body that weight around 60 kg. 12-28-1994 The boy had an athletic body and was quite versatile in sports too. Kenneth Gene Caminiti was an outstanding third baseman. Besides. He . "I think he was the right person to talk to him because I know he loved my son a lot. In 2004, he returned to baseball as a spring training instructor with the Padres. In 1995, he achieved numerous milestones and set career highs with the San Diego squad. Caminiti was signed as a third round pick in the 1984 amateur draft by the Houston Astros. Silva said he doesn't know whether Caminiti was using drugs in the bathroom. $200.00. He left the apartment with $24 in his wallet. Ken Caminiti was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame on Saturday and his three daughters spoke with Julie Alexandria during Padres Live. As for his salary during his years as a player, we do not have exact information. He was also an addict. In his career, he was able to play in 5 different teams in the US. In terms of his educational background, he attended Leigh High School in San Jose and graduated in 1981. Everything was all right.". Further injuries in late July forced the Astros to shift Bell to first base in late July, and Caminiti was brought up to play at third base. He was promoted to the Double-A Columbus Astros in 1986, and batted .300 for the first time in his professional career. The reason for Kens divorce soon became the cause of his death. You felt that he had something to prove. http://www.bestsportsphotos.com/products/ken-caminiti-g1-out-of-print-rangers-8x10-photo. In San Diego, Caminiti reached his career-high by hitting .302 with 26 home runs and 94 RBI in 1995, which later rose to .326/40/130 in 1996. Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 - October 10, 2004) was an American third baseman who spent fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1987-1994, 1999-2000), San Diego Padres (1995-1998), Texas Rangers (2001) and Atlanta Braves (2001). At about 1 p.m., according to Gonzalez, more than four hours after Silva first called him, Silva and Caminiti arrived at his apartment in Hunts Point. Caminiti was signed as a third round pick in the 1984 amateur draft by the Houston Astros. "He was distraught and I had to go out there and intervene.". By then, he had admitted his use of steroids as a player, and he was struggling with substance abuse. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. She said there were no arguments and nothing unusual in Caminiti's demeanor. "In the time that I knew Ken Caminiti, not one time did he tell me that he was in love with Maria," Schaffer said. There is no question Ken Caminiti was the most famous & most loved celebrity of all the time. Romero's son was living in Bushwick in an apartment with his father, Robert Silva. On April 23, a month after Romero said Caminiti proposed, probation officer Tracy Burns got a call from Caminiti, who had apparently relapsed with his drug addiction. Video Film Room Hub Statcast MLB Network MLB Originals Podcasts. Taller and high waisted frame with an athletic look but plenty of growth remaining. 308 15K views 1 year ago Ken Caminiti blended brute power and acrobatic defense in his four seasons with the Padres. I was freaking out. 29. The slugging third baseman became the 13th player inducted into the group. The cause of death was reported to be a heart attack, according to the preliminary news reports. He was rushed to the hospital and was announced dead at 6:45 pm, on October 10, 2004, by the Lincoln Hospital. 1996 Upper Deck Collectors Choice Crash the Game Silver #CG22C Ken Caminiti. Mr. Caminiti was married to a lady named Nancy Smith on November 14, 1987. Between 7:30 and 8 a.m., six calls were made from the phone to Romero's mother's apartment. In 1985, he started playing professional baseball beginning with the Osceola Astros of the Single-A Florida State League.