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Post by junior on Jun 9, 2022 11:45:51 GMT -8
Dan Good's book is pretty good if you like baseball stories and reminiscing about players you know. Along with Junior Seau and Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti will always be a special San Diego sports story who left far too many chapters unwritten. I'd heard or read about many of the stories in Ken's past, and the book goes into greater detail about them.
When I watch Manny Machado play 3rd base, I often think of Cammy. Sad to think of how a speedball ended it for him in his girlfriend's ex-husband's bathroom, pretty much alone. Drugs get such a grip on some individuals that they just won't let go until they've killed them in every way possible. Ken made some bad choices, sure, but then he made some better ones. In the end, though, I guess his multiple sources of pain were just too much to play through. He just couldn't make them go away.
Sometimes the book reminded me of all the baseball player books I read as a kid, but reliving some of the days Cammy had with the Padres was fun. I'm sure there are more people than me who wish he was still around now.
Hopefully Manny Machado becomes the next San Diego Padres' 3rd baseman to become NL MVP, hopefully, he will remain somewhat pain free, and hopefully we'll have him around for many more years.
Playing professional baseball is sure not a job for the faint of heart, that's for sure.
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Post by aardvark on Jun 9, 2022 13:26:16 GMT -8
Dan Good's book is pretty good if you like baseball stories and reminiscing about players you know. Along with Junior Seau and Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti will always be a special San Diego sports story who left far too many chapters unwritten. I'd heard or read about many of the stories in Ken's past, and the book goes into greater detail about them. When I watch Manny Machado play 3rd base, I often think of Cammy. Sad to think of how it all ended for him in a hotel room, alone. Drugs get such a grip on some individuals that they just won't let go until they've killed them in every way possible. Ken made some bad choices, sure, but then he made some better ones. In the end, though, the pain was just too much to play through. Sometimes the book reminded me of all the baseball player books I read as a kid, but reliving some of the days Cammy had with the Padres was fun. I'm sure there are more people than me who wish he was still around now. Hopefully Manny Machado becomes the next San Diego Padres' 3rd baseman to become NL MVP, hopefully, he will remain somewhat pain free, and hopefully we'll have him around for many more years. Playing professional baseball is sure not a job for the faint of heart, that's for sure. I met Caminiti in the Padres Spring Training facility in Peoria one time. Very quiet man--at least in our brief conversation. And he really looked like he was playing the wrong sport, as his body looked like he could have joined an NFL team as a linebacker. How much of that look was natural? Probably not all that much. I really wish he could have kicked those demons out of his life. |
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Post by junior on Jun 9, 2022 13:57:01 GMT -8
Dan Good's book is pretty good if you like baseball stories and reminiscing about players you know. Along with Junior Seau and Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti will always be a special San Diego sports story who left far too many chapters unwritten. I'd heard or read about many of the stories in Ken's past, and the book goes into greater detail about them. When I watch Manny Machado play 3rd base, I often think of Cammy. Sad to think of how it all ended for him in a hotel room, alone. Drugs get such a grip on some individuals that they just won't let go until they've killed them in every way possible. Ken made some bad choices, sure, but then he made some better ones. In the end, though, the pain was just too much to play through. Sometimes the book reminded me of all the baseball player books I read as a kid, but reliving some of the days Cammy had with the Padres was fun. I'm sure there are more people than me who wish he was still around now. Hopefully Manny Machado becomes the next San Diego Padres' 3rd baseman to become NL MVP, hopefully, he will remain somewhat pain free, and hopefully we'll have him around for many more years. Playing professional baseball is sure not a job for the faint of heart, that's for sure. I met Caminiti in the Padres Spring Training facility in Peoria one time. Very quiet man--at least in our brief conversation. And he really looked like he was playing the wrong sport, as his body looked like he could have joined an NFL team as a linebacker. How much of that look was natural? Probably not all that much. I really wish he could have kicked those demons out of his life. He played football in high school, it’s how he first mangled his shoulder. It was never the same after that injury… imagine if it hadn’t ever happened. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2022 19:11:09 GMT -8
I know he was on roids, but man what a 98 season. It was 98 when he won MVP right?
Remember the “Web Gem” throw from his back to first? Amazing.
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Post by junior on Jun 10, 2022 9:22:21 GMT -8
I know he was on roids, but man what a 98 season. It was 98 when he won MVP right? Remember the “Web Gem” throw from his back to first? Amazing. 2 years before the WS team (1996) was when he won the MVP. By that time, he was mostly clean, he'd quit drinking/drugs, even got religion - but didn't quit the steroids, according to Cammy himself. And he was a hot mess once again during the '98 WS season, by then back to the substance abuse and steroids, too. But somehow all those substances kept him going. The book chronicles much of this. MLB pretty much turned their collective heads away from all the substance abuse going on in the 70's through the 90's. Lots of speed, alcohol, early on, and by then plenty of steroids were being passed around as time went by. It's hard to fault the players for wanting the extra edge, especially when baseball pretty much took a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude toward it all. From all player accounts, everyone knew it was going on, but unless someone came out publicly and said they were using, the rest all pretended they didn't know exactly who was using. I remember hearing Jose Canseco say that as many as 80% of players used steroids. While that seems a little high - I'm pretty sure Wally Joiner, Tim Flannery, Tony Gwynn, and many players on other teams like them never touched the stuff - David Wells was quoted as saying that 25-40% of all major league players were juiced. That seems more plausible. So if everyone else is doing it, why not join the club? The owners are probably as much to blame as anyone else, I think. They wanted a winning "product" on the field to attract fans. Short of that, they were willing to allow individual players to dope up just to attract more fans. $$$ |
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