Playing Through the Pain
Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever, journalist Dan Good seeks to make sense of MLB MVP Ken Caminiti’s fascinating, troubled life.
“As compelling as it is heartbreaking.” —All-Star Pitcher Bob Tewksbury
Beginning research and interviews for his biography on Ken Caminiti in 2012 and 2013, Dan Good has since interviewed nearly 400 people, providing him with an exclusive and exhaustive view into Caminiti’s addictions, use of steroids, baseball successes, and inner turmoil. Decades later, the full truth about Major League Baseball’s steroids era remains elusive, and the story of Caminiti, the player who opened the lid on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, has never been properly told. A gritty third baseman known for his diving stops, cannon arm, and switch-hit power, Caminiti voluntarily admitted in a 2002 Sports Illustrated cover story that he used steroids during his career, including his 1996 MVP season, and guessed that half of the players were using performance-enhancing drugs. “I’ve made a ton of mistakes,” he said. “I don’t think using steroids is one of them.”
Good’s on-the-record sources include Caminiti’s steroids supplier, who has never come forward, discussing in detail his efforts to set up drug programs for Caminiti and dozens of other MLB players during the late 1990s; people who attended rehab with Caminiti and revealed the secret inner trauma that fueled his addictions; hundreds of Caminiti’s baseball teammates and coaches, from Little League to the major leagues, who adored and respected him while struggling to understand how to help him amid a culture that cultivated substance abuse; childhood friends who were drawn to his daring personality, warmth, and athleticism; and the teenager at the center of Caminiti’s October 2004 trip to New York City during which he overdosed and died.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this titillating work, sportswriter Good (The Microsoft Story) tackles a controversial time in sports history with a look at the life of baseball star Ken Caminiti (1963–2004), who, in 2002, acknowledged his use of steroids in a Sports Illustrated cover story. A "pint-sized" kid who grew up playing baseball in 1970s San Jose, Calif., Caminiti displayed a gift for the sport early on, but, as Good reveals, he also had a penchant for drinking, a habit that began in middle school. As Good skillfully traces Caminiti's ascent through high school baseball, his draft to the Houston Astros in 1984, and his subsequent 15 seasons on the field, he notes his successes while also underscoring his growing dependency on performance-enhancing drugs like speed—"a little pick-me-up... popular in major league clubhouses." By the mid 1990s, Caminiti was using steroids regularly, including during his 1996 MVP season with the San Diego Padres. Drawing from almost a decade of interviews with Caminiti's teammates and coaches, Good's narrative is decidedly unsparing, but it offers crucial context to the "steroids era" that led Caminiti to go public about his usage and to call out hypocrisy in a sport, where, he alleged, "at least half the guys using." This is a must-read for baseball fans.
Customer Reviews
Playing through the pain
Good that his story is documented as it seems like his contribution to the game and his lifelong battle with drugs and alcohol are shrouded.