Ken Caminiti

Born: 4/21/1963 in Hanford, CA, USA

Died: 10/10/2004 in Bronx, NY, USA

MLB Debut: 1987-07-16 | Final Game: 2001-10-07

Bats: B | Throws: R | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 200 lbs

Full name: Kenneth Gene Caminiti

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Biography

Ken Caminiti was a professional baseball player born in 1963, who played primarily as a position player from 1987 until his retirement on October 7, 2001. Over the course of his 14-year Major League Baseball career, he appeared in 1,760 games and established himself as a formidable presence at the plate. Caminiti accumulated 1,710 hits, 239 home runs, and 983 runs batted in, finishing his career with a batting average of .272. Known for his power and defensive skills, he also demonstrated speed on the bases, recording 88 stolen bases. Caminiti was a three-time All-Star, earning recognition for his contributions to the game during a competitive era marked by the emergence of powerful sluggers. His most notable season came in 1996 when he won the National League Most Valuable Player award while playing for the San Diego Padres. This achievement solidified his legacy as one of the premier third basemen of his time. Despite the challenges and controversies of the era, including the ongoing discussions around performance-enhancing substances, Caminiti's impact on the field remained significant, making him a memorable figure in baseball history.

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1760	6288	894	1710	348	17	239	983	88	727	1163	0.272	0.347	0.447	0.794	9578.7

Career AVG .272 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .347 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .447 vs. league average .409 across their career seasons — +9.2% above league average.

Career OPS 0.794 vs. league average 0.742 across their career seasons — +7.0% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1987	HOU	NL	63	203	10	50	7	1	3	23	0	12	44	0.246	.262 (-6%)	.331 (-13%)	.415 (-19%)	.746 (-17%)	-631.8
1988	HOU	NL	30	83	5	15	2	0	1	7	0	5	18	0.181	.254 (-29%)	.317 (-29%)	.377 (-36%)	.695 (-33%)	-455.3
1989	HOU	NL	161	585	71	149	31	3	10	72	4	51	93	0.255	.254 (avg)	.319 (-1%)	.375 (-2%)	.694 (-1%)	-185.1
1990	HOU	NL	153	541	52	131	20	2	4	51	9	48	97	0.242	.257 (-6%)	.324 (-7%)	.385 (-20%)	.710 (-14%)	-1484.4
1991	HOU	NL	152	574	65	145	30	3	13	80	4	46	85	0.253	.255 (-1%)	.323 (-4%)	.384 (avg)	.708 (-2%)	-270.8
1992	HOU	NL	135	506	68	149	31	2	13	62	10	44	68	0.294	.255 (+15%)	.322 (+8%)	.377 (+17%)	.699 (+13%)	1219.6
1993	HOU	NL	143	543	75	142	31	0	13	75	8	49	88	0.262	.265 (-1%)	.332 (-3%)	.403 (-3%)	.735 (-3%)	-379.6
1994	HOU	NL	111	406	63	115	28	2	18	75	4	43	71	0.283	.269 (+5%)	.338 (+4%)	.424 (+17%)	.763 (+11%)	866.8
1995	SDP	NL	143	526	74	159	33	0	26	94	12	69	94	0.302	.266 (+13%)	.337 (+13%)	.417 (+23%)	.755 (+18%)	2069.3
1996	SDP	NL	146	546	109	178	37	2	40	130	11	78	99	0.326	.269 (+21%)	.340 (+20%)	.426 (+46%)	.767 (+34%)	3977.6
1997	SDP	NL	137	486	92	141	28	0	26	90	11	80	118	0.290	.266 (+9%)	.336 (+15%)	.419 (+21%)	.756 (+19%)	2046.4
1998	SDP	NL	131	452	87	114	29	0	29	82	6	71	108	0.252	.266 (-5%)	.335 (+5%)	.420 (+21%)	.755 (+14%)	1312.6
1999	HOU	NL	78	273	45	78	11	1	13	56	6	46	58	0.286	.271 (+5%)	.344 (+12%)	.433 (+10%)	.778 (+11%)	641.0
2000	HOU	NL	59	208	42	63	13	0	15	45	3	42	37	0.303	.270 (+12%)	.344 (+21%)	.437 (+33%)	.782 (+28%)	1202.6
2001	TEX	AL	54	185	24	43	8	1	9	25	0	22	41	0.232	.263 (-12%)	.332 (-4%)	.426 (+1%)	.758 (-1%)	-48.7
2001	ATL	NL	64	171	12	38	9	0	6	16	0	21	44	0.222	.263 (-16%)	.332 (-8%)	.426 (-11%)	.758 (-10%)	-48.7

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
23	79	12	21	1	0	8	16	12	21	0.266

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2001	NLDS1	ATL	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000
1999	NLDS1	HOU	4	17	3	8	0	3	8	2	1	0.471
1998	NLCS	SDN	6	22	3	6	0	2	4	5	4	0.273
1998	NLDS2	SDN	4	14	2	2	0	0	0	1	3	0.143
1998	WS	SDN	4	14	1	2	1	0	1	2	7	0.143
1996	NLDS2	SDN	3	10	3	3	0	3	3	2	5	0.300

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	33	33	240	14	6	19
3B	1676	1628	1251	3127	249	280

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1987	HOU	3B	61	51	50	98	8	11
1988	HOU	3B	28	20	12	43	3	2
1989	HOU	3B	160	159	126	335	22	27
1990	HOU	3B	149	140	118	243	21	22
1991	HOU	3B	152	150	129	293	23	29
1992	HOU	3B	129	128	102	210	11	19
1993	HOU	3B	143	142	123	264	24	23
1994	HOU	3B	108	103	79	200	9	17
1995	SDN	3B	143	142	102	295	27	28
1996	SDN	3B	145	142	103	310	20	28
1997	SDN	3B	133	133	90	291	24	20
1998	SDN	3B	126	126	77	207	21	16
1999	HOU	3B	75	73	52	139	14	17
2000	HOU	3B	58	56	37	81	11	8
2001	TEX	3B	53	51	42	99	9	10
2001	ATL	1B	33	33	240	14	6	19
2001	ATL	3B	13	12	9	19	2	3

Career Games by Position

Position	Games
First Base	33
Third Base	1676
Designated Hitter	1

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1997	Gold Glove	3B
1996	Gold Glove	3B
1996	MLB Players Choice Outstanding Player
1996	Most Valuable Player
1996	Player of the Month	August
1996	Player of the Month	September
1996	Player of the Week	Week of 1996-08-03
1996	Player of the Week	Week of 1996-08-24
1996	Silver Slugger	3B
1996	TSN All-Star	3B
1995	Gold Glove	3B
1995	Player of the Week	Week of 1995-09-16
1995	Player of the Week	Week of 1995-07-01
1992	Player of the Week	Week of 1992-06-27
1991	Player of the Week	Week of 1991-08-31
1987	Player of the Week	Week of 1987-07-17

Salary History

Year	Team	League	Salary
2001	TEX	AL	$3,500,000
2000	HOU	NL	$4,500,000
1999	HOU	NL	$4,500,000
1998	SDN	NL	$3,500,000
1997	SDN	NL	$3,150,000
1996	SDN	NL	$3,275,000
1995	SDN	NL	$4,600,000
1994	HOU	NL	$3,250,000
1993	HOU	NL	$3,150,000
1992	HOU	NL	$1,500,000
1991	HOU	NL	$2,200,000
1990	HOU	NL	$240,000
1989	HOU	NL	$129,000
1987	HOU	NL	$62,500
Total Career Earnings			$37,556,500