Former NL MVP Caminiti Passes Away
POSTED: 2:19 am EDT October 11, 2004
Bronx, NY -- Ken Caminiti, who won the National League MVP in 1996 and later admitted to using steroids during his playing career, passed away on Sunday due to an apparent heart attack. He was 41.
Caminiti passed away at New York's Lincoln Memorial Hospital in the Bronx.
A three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner at third base, Caminiti ended his playing career in 2001 with Atlanta, but was then often in legal trouble.
Last Tuesday, Caminiti admitted he violated his probation by testing positive for cocaine and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. He had already served more than six months in jail in relation to an arrest for a cocaine violation in 2001.
Caminiti had previously admitted that he also faced alcohol abuse in 1993.
In a report by Sports Illustrated in May 2002, Caminiti admitted he used the steroids the year he hit a career-best .326 with 40 home runs and drove in 130 runs for the San Diego Padres in 1996. At the time, Caminiti told the magazine at least half of the major league players use performance-enhancing drugs.
Caminiti told the magazine he started using steroids midway through the 1996 season after hurting his shoulder. Up to that season he had never hit more than 26 homers in a single year, but in 1996 he hit 28 after the All-Star break and followed that up with 26 homers in 1997 and 29 in 1998, the year the Padres went to the World Series before losing to the Yankees.
In 1987, Caminiti made his major league debut with the Houston Astros after coming up in their farm system. He was traded to San Diego prior to the 1995 season and finished his career hitting .272 with 239 home runs and 983 RBI.
Caminiti was employed by the Padres as a spring training instructor this past season.