Ken Caminiti

Full Name: Kenneth Gene Caminiti	Primary Position: 3B
Height/Weight: 6' 0"/200	First Game: July 16, 1987
Birthdate: April 21, 1963	Final Game: October 7, 2001
Birthplace: Hanford, California	MLB Experience: 15 years
Died: October 10, 2004
Deathplace: Bronx, New York
Bat/Throw: Both/Right

Biography[]

Ken Caminiti (Kenneth Gene Caminiti) was born on April 21, 1963 in Hanford, California. He made his Major League debut on July 16, 1987 for the Houston Astros. In 1987, his rookie year, he hit .246 with 3 home runs and 23 RBI. Caminiti played for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves over the course of his 15 year career.

Most people believe that Ken Caminiti's best season was 1996, when he slugged 40 home runs, hit for a .326 average and knocked in 130 runs, winning the NL NL MVP in the process.

In a June 2002 Sports Illustrated cover story, Caminiti admitted that he used anabolic steroids during the 1996 MLB campaign and, according to the Mitchell Report, "for a number of seasons thereafter." According to the Sports Illustrated story, Caminiti projected that over 50% of all major leaguers were using steroids. According to the Mitchell Report, Caminiti first considered using steroids in 1993 or 1994, and was openly using them as early as 1995. San Diego Padres teammate Wally Joyner, discussed using steroids with Caminiti in 1998, and eventually was convinced to try the drugs, albeit for a short time only. There was also an unreported incident in which the director for team travel for the Houston Astros was sent a package, believed to belong to Caminiti, in which contained "glass vials containing a white liquid that he (the Astros employee) believed to be anabolic steroids and pills that he believed to be vitamins." Contained in the Mitchell Report is the testimony of former Major League player Chris Donnels spoke with Caminiti in 1993 about anabolic steroids. According to Donnels, Caminiti confided in him that he was going to try steroids, and Donnels believes that this was the first time Caminiti had tried the performance-enhancing drugs.

Caminiti died on October 10, 2004, of a heart attack brought on by drug abuse- specifically cocaine and opiates. However, coronary artery disease and cardiac hypertrophy (enlarged heart) were also cited as factors in his death.

Statistics[]

Batting Stats[]

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	IBB	GDP
1987	HOU	N	63	203	10	50	3	23	.246	.287	.335	7	1	12	44	0	2	0	1	6
1988	HOU	N	30	83	5	15	1	7	.181	.225	.241	2	0	5	18	0	0	0	0	3
1989	HOU	N	161	585	71	149	10	72	.255	.316	.369	31	3	51	93	3	3	4	9	8
1990	HOU	N	153	541	52	131	4	51	.242	.302	.309	20	2	48	97	0	3	9	7	15
1991	HOU	N	152	574	65	145	13	80	.253	.312	.383	30	3	46	85	5	3	4	7	18
1992	HOU	N	135	506	68	149	13	62	.294	.350	.441	31	2	44	68	1	2	10	13	14
1993	HOU	N	143	543	75	142	13	75	.262	.321	.390	31	0	49	88	0	1	8	10	15
1994	HOU	N	111	406	63	115	18	75	.283	.352	.495	28	2	43	71	2	0	4	13	8
1995	SD	N	143	526	74	159	26	94	.302	.380	.513	33	0	69	94	1	0	12	8	11
1996	SD	N	146	546	109	178	40	130	.326	.408	.621	37	2	78	99	4	0	11	16	15
1997	SD	N	137	486	92	141	26	90	.290	.389	.508	28	0	80	118	3	0	11	9	12
1998	SD	N	131	452	87	114	29	82	.252	.353	.509	29	0	71	108	4	0	6	4	6
1999	HOU	N	78	273	45	78	13	56	.286	.386	.476	11	1	46	58	3	0	6	3	7
2000	HOU	N	59	208	42	63	15	45	.303	.419	.582	13	0	42	37	1	0	3	8	7
2001	TEX	A	54	185	24	43	9	25	.232	.318	.432	8	1	22	41	2	0	0	2	5
2001	ATL	N	64	171	12	38	6	16	.222	.306	.380	9	0	21	44	0	0	0	1	2
2001	Total		118	356	36	81	15	41	.228	.312	.407	17	1	43	85	2	0	0	3	7
Total	NL		1706	6103	870	1667	230	958	.273	.348	.447	340	16	705	1122	27	14	88	109	147
Total	AL		54	185	24	43	9	25	.232	.318	.432	8	1	22	41	2	0	0	2	5
Total			1760	6288	894	1710	239	983	.272	.347	.447	348	17	727	1163	29	14	88	111	152

Fielding Stats[]

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	TP	AVG
1987	HOU	N	3B	61	51	469.2	50	98	8	11	0	.949
1988	HOU	N	3B	28	20	194	12	43	3	2	0	.948
1989	HOU	N	3B	160	159	1414.2	126	335	22	27	0	.954
1990	HOU	N	3B	149	140	1249.1	118	243	21	22	1	.945
1991	HOU	N	3B	152	150	1308.2	129	293	23	29	2	.948
1992	HOU	N	3B	129	128	1140.2	102	210	11	19	0	.966
1993	HOU	N	3B	143	142	1237	123	264	24	23	0	.942
1994	HOU	N	3B	108	103	924.1	79	200	9	17	0	.969
1995	SD	N	3B	143	142	1226	102	295	27	28	0	.936
1996	SD	N	3B	145	142	1274	103	310	20	28	0	.954
1997	SD	N	3B	133	133	1117	90	291	24	20	0	.941
1998	SD	N	3B	126	125	1049	77	207	21	16	0	.931
1999	HOU	N	3B	75	73	629	52	139	14	17	0	.932
2000	HOU	N	3B	58	56	475.2	37	81	11	8	0	.915
2001	TEX	A	3B	53	51	441.2	42	99	9	10	0	.940
2001	ATL	N	1B	33	33	247.2	240	14	6	19	0	.977
2001	ATL	N	3B	13	12	102	9	19	2	3	0	.933
2001	ATL	N	DH	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
2001	Total		3B	66	63	543.2	51	118	11	13	0	.939
Total			1B	33	33	247.2	240	14	6	19	0	.977
Total			3B	1676	1627	14252.2	1251	3127	249	280	3	.946
Total			DH	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Transactions[]

Selected by Houston Astros in the 3rd round of the free-agent draft (June 4, 1984 - signed June 9, 1984).
Traded by Houston Astros with Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams and a player to be named later to San Diego Padres in exchange for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro Martinez, Phil Plantier and Craig Shipley (December 28, 1994); San Diego Padres received Sean Fesh (May 1, 1995).
Granted free agency (October 23, 1998).
Signed by Houston Astros (November 17, 1998).
Granted free agency (October 30, 2000).
Signed by Texas Rangers (December 10, 2000).
Released by Texas Rangers (July 2, 2001).
Signed by Atlanta Braves (July 5, 2001).
Granted free agency (November 6, 2001).

Trivia[]

All-Star Games: 1994 1996 1997