Sunday, October 10, 2004
Ken Caminiti 1963-2004Ken Caminiti died of a heart attack in New York this weekend. There will soon be a media frenzy where most of the talk will surround steroids and cocaine.
The irony is that I remember there was a time when Caminiti was held up as a model of clean living. When he won his MVP the buzz was that he was able to turn his career around by kicking a drinking habit that was masking his true talent. Only that wasn't the real story, and he never seemed to be able to kick other habits that were even worse.
The picture that goes with this article was shot at the last game at Jack Murphy Stadium. There were many big cheers for returning players. Of course, Tony Gwynn got the loudest ovation, but the locals certainly let Caminiti know that their memories of him were fond ones, and that he was welcome to come home. One of the other large ovations was for Mike Darr Jr., who went into right field with Phil Nevin and Gary Matthews Jr. Darr's father was a Padre who died in a car accident. And now, a little over a year later, another life that was just cut too short.
posted by David 11:16 PM
