Ken Caminiti, Former NL MVP, Dies of Heart Attack at Age 41
Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Ken Caminiti, the 1996 National League Most Valuable Player who admitted to using steroids during his Major League Baseball career, died yesterday of a heart attack, his agent said. He was 41.
Caminiti, who said in a Houston court last week that he used **** last month, died in New York, said his agent and lawyer, Rick Licht. The New York Medical Examiner\'s office will perform an autopsy today, Licht said. A spokeswoman at the New York Medical Examiner\'s office didn\'t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
Caminiti, a former All-Star third baseman, retired in 2001 after 15 seasons in the majors. He told Sports Illustrated magazine in 2002 that he started using steroids during the middle of his MVP season to help him recover from a shoulder injury and continued to take them for the rest of his career. He estimated in the magazine article that half the players in the majors were using steroids.
Eight days after Caminiti was released by the Atlanta Braves in 2001, he was arrested in Houston and charged with **** possession. He pleaded guilty and was put on three years probation. In February 2003, Caminiti was ordered into a state- run drug treatment center in Texas after violating terms of his probation by failing a drug test. Caminiti admitted last week to again violating his probation by using **** last month.
``Becky and I are grief-stricken at the premature death of one of the bravest athletes that we have known,\'` San Diego Padres majority owner John Moores and his wife said in a statement. ``We admired Ken tremendously and remained optimistic that he would conquer the personal challenges that he was dealing with during the past several years.\'`
Caminiti had a career .272 batting average with 239 home runs and 983 runs batted in with Houston, San Diego, Texas and Atlanta. He won the MVP award with the Padres in 1996, when he hit .326 with 40 homers and 130.
Preliminary results indicate drug overdose
ESPN.com news services
Preliminary results of the autopsy performed on Ken Caminiti show that the former National League MVP died of a drug overdose, a New York City police source told ESPN\'s Jeremy Schaap.
Caminiti, 41, reportedly collapsed in a Bronx apartment on Sunday and was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital. His agent, Rick Licht, said at the time Caminiti died of a heart attack.
The medical examiner\'s office performed the autopsy on Monday, but a spokesperson for the medical examiner said Thursday that no official cause of death would be announced until the completion of a toxicology report, which could take up to 10 days.
Caminiti battled drug and alcohol problems during his 15-year major-league career. In May 2002, he told Sports Illustrated he used steroids during his career.
On Tuesday, Newsday (N.Y.) reported that Caminiti was "depressed" and "edgy," and wanted to talk about "life, love and everything," during the last half day of his life, according to Rob Silva, a 35-year-old ex-con from Brooklyn, who had met Caminiti about a year and a half ago.
Just last week, he admitted in a Houston court that he violated his probation by using **** last month, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.
Caminiti\'s big-league career ended in 2001. He was a three-time All Star third baseman and a unanimous pick for MVP in 1996 when he led the San Diego Padres to the division series.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.