Ken Caminiti: Baseball's Most Bizarre MVP Winner
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
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There are just 15 unanimous MVP winners in MLB since the beginning of the Expansion Era, and the list is full of players you'd exactly expect. Except for one guy, who just happened to tear down the Steroid Era in baseball. This is his story.
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Coming from a padres fan this man Cam is definitely an icon. That play where he threw the guy out from 3rd while sitting down was incredible. Arm strength out the roof. RIP
Astros fan here. He was a badass.
I haven't forgot
RIP Ken Caminiti! Dude was a stud.. Let’s go Padres!!
As a Dodgers fan, I was actually always much more scared of him defensively given all the hard hitting RHB we had during that time.
Amen to that! Rest in peace cam!
That throw from his back is easily one of the most insane and impressive plays I have ever seen
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He has not been forgotten in San Diego. As a 90's kid he was one of my idols
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Jeff Bagwell can go on and on about what sort of a man Caminiti was. Before the 1994 season, Caminiti admitted to Bagwell and other teammates that he was an alcoholic and then put together his first All-Star season. Looking at it now, he was like golfer John Daly - he was an addiction addict. He always had to be chasing some new high or thrill. But Bagwell would tell you about what a great teammate he was - overly kind, generous and unpretentious. RIP Ken. It ended all too soon.
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Gwynn, Finley & Cam were so much fun to watch. Greg Vaughn too!
Ive always had some sense of proverbial kindredness with Caminiti. Man was an alumnus of both my high school and university, who also went the JuCo route like I did and took classes at the city college that several of my relatives did before transferring. That someone could have taken such a similar path and ended up as a unanimous MLB MVP was inspiring to me in the hopes I could make something of myself as well.
RIP, addiction sucks and he died way too young.
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5:06 In hindsight how funny is that sign in the left field bleachers in Padre stadium that says "Juice Power" on one of Caminiti's homeruns lol
Playing with the Padres in 98, Cam was a great dude! Made me feel welcome and part of the family! Salt of the earth cat! Just had bigger demons than others! RIP
oh an anonymous former pro-athlete commenting on the interwebs!? love it. I’ll bet those were some fantastic and fascinating times for you, aside from playing in the big leagues, just getting to interact and become friends with all sorts of interesting pro athlete personality types, including Caminiti!
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Perhaps even weirder is that these are the only MVP votes Ken received in his entire career
Edit: Damn you caught it
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Thank your friend Jomboy, I wouldn't have seen this, or subbed, without them.
I'm a padres fan and old enough to remember him winning the award. Ken was so jacked that even then you knew something was up.
I remember when he came to the braves. It was so obvious he was juiced.
A lot of players juiced around that time but Ken went from average joe to Incredible Hulk
Bullshit, steroids was never a thing until after Ken told the world that half the league was on them.
I suspected something even as a kid because all of the sudden a bunch of players had 45 plus hrs lol
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I still remember Ken Caminiti's MLB debut on July 16th 1987, which was just a couple of days after my 20th birthday. Ken Caminiti's first hit was Triple (if I remember correctly) and his second hit was a Homerun, which was shocking since the announcers commented that Ken Caminiti was going to be an all glove and light hitter type of player. Man did Ken Caminiti have a cannon for an arm, I can still remember some of those throws, as you have shown in your video, that I still cannot believe he was able to achieve. Yes, I was one of those Astros fans back in 1994 who was extremely pissed when the Astros traded Ken Caminiti (and Andujar Cedeno) to the San Diego Padres.
Ken's debut was very memorable, and he was AWESOME on defense, and that arm ... Should have won the Gold Glove in 1989 and 1994 -- his best defensive days came during his first stint with Houston, but years of hard living and playing on the Astrodome turf didn't help. My book about Ken, Playing Through the Pain, just got published this week and should be available wherever books are sold.
Steve Finely too
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I remember Caminiti, this guy fielding ability was so out of this world! Now we talk about Arenado, or Machado and deservedly so, but no one touches Caminiti’s fielding prowess.
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Ken was just a sad, hurt man who hid everything and left everything on the field…We Padre faithful, used to having our hearts broken, loved him completely and I don’t think he ever felt how much we did…he was a kind man who died a sad lonely way too early death and he is missed almost as much as Tony Gwynn here amongst us Padre diehards
Yep and everyone talks about him having not the best stats. Even though he carried the Padres that season. We had to sweep and he got us there. Those were fun times. We still love Cammy.
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He went to my high school, I never see anyone talk about him, so it was nice to see him get some recognition for his season!
He's more known for SD than Hou but he was one of my favorite childhood Astros. When he died it was like a ton of bricks.
I was born & raised in the “Murph” almost literally… was a jr Padre at 6years old an my love has Never wavered , Cami = Beast to Any an All of us there daily riding that wave of that fantastic era of our Dre’s, Finley somehow was almost equally as beastly ,,, Vaughn Also they absolutely were inspiring and competing against each other to see who could hit the more dramatic late inning bomb or insane defensive plays. Was for us here in paradise a few years of Ecstasy that we’ll never forget, an yes I realize the Best is Yet to be an soon, although that energy helped fuel fan base that made petco happen which has paved way for this current organization. Here’s to Krok, Cami & #19 Mr Padre.. forever grateful for your loves of “The Game”🙏👊🏽🤗
Don’t forget Kevin Brown and Wally Joyner!!!
Did I miss it or did you not mention the late, great Tony Gwynn
@@piercehubbard4086 #19 mister Padre, he's in there 👍
Born and raised in SD also. Couldn't have said it better myself. And I can honestly say watching the Murph torn down as I passed it daily on the 15 was so sad. I can honestly say I shed a tear on a couple occasions. But I do love Petco and look forward to Snap Dragon
@@vincenttaylor8553 whew I missed it. Almost had to call the baseball police…
Thanks for this, Cami was my favorite player. He made those seasons here in SD so exciting and memorable. I went to the World Series in 98 and it was mind blowing. I went into deep mourning for him when he died at such a young age.
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I think one-off unexpected (undeserving?) MVPs should be it's own video. Kevin Mitchell and Terry Pendleton come to mind in the 80s-90s. Same thing with Steve Bedrosian for the Cy Young.
EDIT: I'll add Justin Morneau in 2006
Kevin Mitchell hit .290 BA, 47 HR, & 125 RBI's in 89'.
Willie Hernandez is another one.
@@sabreeemneely But imo Will Clark had a better season in 2nd place
Dennis eckersley too. He somehow won MVP and cy young as closer when he didn’t even have that good of a season. (Not saying it wasn’t a good season, just that it wasn’t close to how good it should need to be to win MVP)
@@shoukatsukai no way. Mitchell was a dominant hitter and led Will Clark in every offensive stat other than WAR.
Steroids or not he was a very skilled baseball player. A switch hitting defensive wizard
😂😂😂😂 it was all roids
@@AnimeBronxI'd love to see Arnold hit a fastball
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Growing up in Houston with Bagwell and Biggio, Caminiti was my favorite. Such a tragic end to a man who wrestled with demons
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I did have fun. Especially loved the 85 Willie McGee season mention - McGee was my favorite player as a kid and he and the rest of the 85 Cardinals are what caused me to fall in love with baseball.
130 rbi and 3rd in his league, I remember being surprised he won it that year but after seeing this break down I can understand why
As a Houstonian I remember when he passed away. I was a teen and cut out the houston chronicle article and hung it on my wall for a few years. Thanks for the wonderful video
I saw a lot of those games in the Dome back in the late '80s - early '90s, and - steroids or not - he was as fine a fielding 3rd baseman as I've ever seen. Met him once after a game, and he had me climb up on the runner of his massive white pickup truck to get a ball signed. Nice dude. RIP, indeed. Gone too soon.
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dude’s post-baseball life was so tragic. RIP
I remember being so excited when he came to play for the Braves.
Hi Jolly.
Hi Dan!
5:30 THIS THROW IS INSANE
I respect a man who admits to short comings far more than one who denies any wrongdoings or shortcomings. One takes balls to do, the other just takes narcissism
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I remember when played for the Braves. It was hard to watch him. He was a shell of what he as with the Stros and Friars. I remember when he passed. He was one of my favorite players.
His forearms were so huge at that point I remember thinking he looked like a cartoon. He wound up tearing his bicep. Not a very common baseball injury. That injury led to signing Julio Franco from the Mexican league
I love seeing crazy pop off seasons throughout history, Zoilo Versailles, Denny McLain, and Rico Petrocelli come to mind
💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡
RIP Cammi, you were fun to watch growing up as a kid.
🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙
Lifelong Pads fan! Brought back great memories. Thanks!!
Imagine if Houston kept him with Biggio and Bagwell in the infield in their prime. Plus that one year where they had Randy Johnson. That would have been an unstoppable team.
Caminiti won the Gold Glove in 1995, 1996, and 1997, which likely contributed to assessments of his value, even in available defensive metrics suggest those years weren't that great for him (although 1996 was a notable step up compared to 1995, 1997, and 1998 for Caminiti) and that it was his reputation built earlier in his career that earned him those awards.
Still, a .326 BA, 40 HR, and a Gold Glove at 3B does make sense as an MVP, especially since guys on fringe playoff teams had a huge advantage due to voter narratives that drove the MVP award in that era. His Padres finished 1 game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West, and were only 3 games from being left out of the playoffs entirely, meaning his value was critical.
Barry Bonds, although posting another classic Bonds season of comical numbers (and this was almost certainly before he started eating a well balanced breakfast) and 9.7 WAR, played for a 68 win team - in many 90s voters' eyes, this meant his MVP credentials were weaker because "how valuable can he be if he didn't even break into the GM's office and start building the roster? Silly Barry!"
That said, the AL MVP that year, Juan Gonzalez, was the real weird choice. In an era swarming with offensive production, they gave it to the 5th best Texas Rangers player. When young, pre-steroids A-Rod saw that, is there any wonder why he juiced?
Barry Bonds could have won the NL MVP award that year. Bonds led the league with 9.7 WAR. He had one of the very rare 40 HR 40 SB seasons. He also had 122 runs, 129 RBIs, 151 walks and a .308 batting average.
But I suppose Bonds won enough MVP awards in his career without winning this one.
Bonds could have won the MVP in almost every season. Literally
I remember Bonds '97 season well. He was deserving of the MVP, but I believe the main reason Caminiti won out was because San Diego won the Western division while San Francisco finished in a distant last place with 90 plus losses. They almost always reward a player that contributed to a winning ball club.
That and probably familiarity fatigue hurt Bonds from winning it yet again.
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Ken was 1 of my favorite players growing up
how did i miss this video? 1 year ago it was uploaded? what a gem
Miss this man terribly. He was part of the Padres dream team. I had the privilege to watch those guys.
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Good video and good assessment. Yeah I agree with you that it doesn't excuse a lot of these guys for cheating / using steroids during that era, but I at least respect when a guy like Caminiti or McGwire owns up to it and/or admits remorse for the damage done to not only their bodies but the game itself -- which is more than we will ever see from Bonds, for example.
Ken was a really nice guy. Invited me as 12 year old in the dugout in spring training.
I've torn both my rotator cuffs and I absolutely do not understand how anyone could play baseball with that injury. I don't even understand how anyone could _attempt_ baseball with a torn rotator cuff.
Ken went to San Diego and became buds with Greg Vaughn. Vaughn introduced him to the roids and the rest was history. This is my theroy i have no proof of, but yeah, he linked wirh Vaughn and they balled out while shooting eachother in the behind before each game
Dude great job on this 👏🏼👏🏼
Ken may be gone but the goatee lives on.
2:25 thank you for including that clip
A really sad story...especially where he was found 🙏
In 1998 I caught Ken Camminiti's 38th home run ball against the Rockies. I went to a game with my little league team
Trying to understand Cammy's 96' season based on just stats is like judging a meal based on someones else's farts. You had to have been there..
1:25
Love the bullpen reaction
When real men played sports unlike today. Dude was cracking homers with a jacked up shoulder and broken ribs, I could care less about the steroids honestly since everyone was doing them. I didnt even like the Padres but I always liked how gritty Cam was.
Saturdays are always better when Jolly Olive uploads
If anyone ever graphed MLB player neck circumference over the years, the 90s would be off the charts.
Great vid keep doing what you are doing
RIP one of my favorite players ever
Im sad too. We should weiner sword fight. To cheer ourselves up.
Everyone was on steroids back then. Shouldnt hurt his legacy. You take that era for what it was. It was fun to watch
Regardless of the steroids, his arm strength and defense skills at 3rd were super impressive.
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One of my ex coworkers used to party with Caminiti when she was younger and in her crazy days, the funny part is she didn't even know who he was for a while, he was just the crazy guy that came to their parties, and shit always hit the fan when he was there. Wasn't until some time later that she learned he played for the Astros🤣
To think Houston went from making the fleece of the decade (Finley, Schilling and Harnisch for Glenn Davis), to getting fleeced on a major level themselves just a few years later (Derek Bell and scraps for Finley and Caminiti).
Before that, they also gave the Red Sox reliever Larry Andersen in exchange for a prospect named Jeff Bagwell.
@@shoukatsukai to think the Red Sox could've had a top of the lineup of Garciaparra, John Valentin, Bagwell and Mo Vaughn...
"fleece of the decade" 🤣😂
You're massively over exaggerating that trade. Sure, Houston were the winners in that deal because of how Davis' career panned out afterwards but you make it sound like they got multiple all stars in return. Harnish played 4 years in Houston, 2 of which were pretty good (1 all star season) and the other 2 were sub-par. At this point Schilling was no where near the borderline HOFer he became later in his career, and only played 1 season for the Astros. He wasn't even used as a starter, he was a mediocre relief pitcher that year. Finley played 4 years in Houston while he was a decent leadoff guy, he hadn't yet become the gold glove winning all star he would after leaving. His first 2 years in Houston he put up above average offensive numbers but nothing amazing, and his last 2 seasons were average to below average in production and he was injured for half of one of those seasons. Had the Astros held on to Finley and Schilling and still developed them into what they later became and kept Harnish healthy after that all star season then I could see giving this trade such a title.
The Astros fleeced Baltimore and Boston (Bagwell-Andersen) then got largely fleeced by Cleveland (Lofton-Taubensee) then gave up Schilling for Grimsley... fascinating time.
@@DGood73 And they also could've taken Jeter in the 1992 draft but chose Phil Nevin...
So they could've had a top of the lineup of Lofton, Jeter, Biggio and Bagwell had they played their cards right...
Maybe I missed where he mentioned it but it took me a little while to notice dude was a switch hitter too. Impressive
Stats alone don’t decide MVP awards. His hits and defensive plays were always at a crucial time.
Caminiti's offense benefited from 'roids on a Brett Boone/Brady Anderson/Jason Giambi/Jose Canseco level. But his defense was gold glove level before the PEDs.
Nearly everyone was juiced back then, and the league knew all about it. Baseball was in a pretty poor condition after the World Series was canceled in 1994 due to the labor lockout. Hockey and NASCAR were both threatening to overtake MLB in popularity. Everyone juiced, everyone knew about it, they needed to drive excitement back into the game. They need to put Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Clemens, Bonds, and many more into the HOF already.
Wow I never knew he did it with a torn rotator cuff, Golly, Scott Rolen played through shoulder pain and hit like .230
Edit: Then it gets even better, battling dehydration he pumps IV fluids and eats candy bars and has the best game of his career, wtf is with this guy
Caminiti always stuck out to me as someone I was jealous of as a kid. Insane range, could hit and hit for power, and that arm. What a cannon.
I remember Cammy's Astros rookie debut in '87!
RIP Caminiti. It’s sad deal that he wasn’t able to get over his addictions. He was always well remembered in Htown despite the bad rumors and domestic problems. Can remember idolizing him along with Bagwell and Biggio as a little boy.
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He was my neighbor in Richmond Texas. In high school i a few if us would hang out there and drink. It was obvious Kem had a drinking problem ( he could out drink us high school kids) but he was always a great guy to us in the neighborhood. Rip Ken.
I took a look at his Wikipedia and his tragic to see his fall from grace. He died on October 10, 2004, almost 3 years to the day of his last MLB appearance (October 7, 2001).
Kaminski might be the best defensive 3rd basemen I've ever seen play in a game i attended. His throws from 3rd looked like they were moving just as fast as the pitchers could throw. Even from his knees or sitting on his butt.
How I never seen that footage of him running into the cop before?!
Albert Belle was robbed of a MVP award in 1995
Yup. Because he was “mean” to the media. Journalists are the worst collection of humans. Whiny nerds and cry bullies.
Not as bizarre as G Stanton winning MVP by striking out a lot and leading his team to a last place finish.
I've never once thought of Cammy as a glove first guy
The weird career of Gary sheffield. So vastly underrated
One of the most underrated superstars ever.
He and Belle suffered because they had bad reps and were considered huge dicks. It def seems true for Belle, but I can't remember Sheffield ever doing anything super negative.
@2:47 was insane. Sure, players make that throw pretty often, but they usually 2 hop it. Cam threw a friggin strike
San Diego loves Ken Caminiti!
Hell yea,cam is still one of my favorite padre,only mvp in team history,
Loved him that season. Had him on my roto team. Helped me win the championship. He had some glove at 3rd base.
Never heard of him a very interesting story thanks Jolly
As a Padres fan, I’m glad jomboy brought me here
caminiti was a tragic case.....he had an injury and turned to steroids to get well and suddenly had great year.....but his substance abuse had really gotten out of hand near the end.....it appeared bagwell and biggio had tried hard to help him but after his divorce things got worse
Hey, y’all
Do know there was no steroid ban in baseball til 2005 right? Can we just go ahead and right there wrongs all the HoF snubs? Of remove bud Zelig’s plaque?
Because MLB's scripted
Caminiti retired as an Atlanta Braves. He did not retire as an Astro. This video makes it seem he only played for the Astros and Padres and never even mentions the fact that the last team he played for was the Atlanta Braves. He only played for 3 teams and this guy already mentioned 2 of them. There is only one more team to mention and it's the team he retired with. How hard is that?
My dad played slow pitch softball with his brother and was involved in multiple facets of his life.
6:12 Um the fuck?
How does a single human hit 36 homerun in only one half of a season. That’s like a full seasons worth of bombs in just 3ish months.
I get it steroids and corked bat but god damn
Ken was the scary man-he would stare with such intensity at opposing players.Sad he went far too soon.
I'm still proud to wear my Camminiti jersey and only San Diegans would know what's up
Detroit beating SD in the 84 world series is a fact but I wouldn't describe it as "fun"
I actually think that Barry Larkin's 1995 MVP season was weirder. 15 hr 66 rbis .319 ba with 51 steals is a good season for a SS at that time but looks paltry in comparison to some of the other MVP's.
I think the oddest actual season was Brady Anderson's 1996 season where, after being a decent player with a little pop, exploded for 50 Hr that year.
I mean, that's what can happen when you do steroids :) (Brady, not Larkin)
The lost art of Switch hitting.
Good video. I just released a book about Ken Caminiti's full, untold story -- including the truth about his steroids use (no, he didn't drive to Mexico himself). The book is called "Playing Through the Pain." Ken Caminiti was the emotional choice for MVP in 1996, and voters then were inclined to pick players who carried their teams to the playoffs (thus, Juan Gonzalez over A-Rod in the AL).
Your book is amazing. One of the best baseball books I've ever read
@@jermainejaxson7199 Thank you! That means a lot.
Loved this guy!! Played ball hard and what an arm
One of the best power switch hitters ever.
Steroids or not, that's arm strength porn from third base.
Kamen 80 according to my captions
Yikes, the story of him playing a season with a torn rotator cuff made me cringe hard. That's just absurd, especially if you're throwing yourself around trying to dive on balls and whatever.
God, I just can't get the image of how much that would have hurt out of my head
7:56 Troy Glaus is pronounced like "floss."
How is it bizarre? He did it all. He focused on taking certain steroids to focus on certain skill sets. He did not hide that he took the juice.
Camanetti was a beast, we miss him.
Great video