Two Third Basemen in the News

On Monday, two third basemen were in the news. Most of the attention was paid to the death of Ken Caminiti of an apparent heart attack and very little attention was paid to the fact that Robin Ventura announced his retirement from the game.

This seems very unfair to me.

Ken Caminiti was known as the 1996 NL MVP, a three time All-Star, an admitted steroids user and a convicted drug abuser. When Jeff Bagwell was coming off the field last night after the first post-season series win in Astros history - one of the first questions he had an answer was about the death of Caminiti.

Nobody grabbed Roger Clemens to ask what he thought about Ventura (Clemen's teammate in New York) hanging up the cleats.

I know that a death is much different from a retirement. I'm not heartless and I'm not stupid. My heart goes out to the family of Ken Caminiti. I just can't help myself from comparing and contrasting these two players who will now forever be linked in my mind because of the news from Monday.

They were very similar.

Both played third base. Both were about the same height and weight (Caminiti was 6'0" and 200 while Ventura is 6'1" and 198). Both were slick fielders (Caminiti had 3 Gold Gloves and Ventura six). Both were well liked by their teammates and fans. Both were also from California.

They were also very different.

The most obvious difference is the fact that Ventura is still alive. Ventura also was different in that he did not have a sudden power surge like Caminiti did. Ventura hit 20 or more HR 9 times in his 16-year career. Caminiti topped 20 HR only 4 times (they just happened to be the four years when he was in San Diego and the four years he admitted to using steroids). They were also very different off the field.

To get an idea of what each player has given back to their communities - Google their name plus the word "charity". When you Google "Ken Caminiti charity" - you come up with 454 hits. Most of the hits have nothing to do with Ken Caminiti being directly involved in a charity - it is just coincidence. In the hits that do have to do with a charity - Caminiti's involvement was mostly relegated to some autographed item by him being auctioned off.

When you Google "Robin Ventura charity" - you come up with about 3,390 hits. Many of these hits speak of Ventura's direct involvement in a charity or of hosting a charitable event.

Interestingly enough, when you Google the player's name plus the word "drugs" - you might expect many more hits associated with Caminiti but that isn't the case.

When you Google "Ken Caminiti drugs" - you get hits with phrases like "pleaded guilty", "admitted using" and "was arraigned today." Most of the hits have to do with Ken Caminiti being directly linked to drugs (either steroids or cocaine).

When you Google "Robin Ventura drugs" - most of the hits have nothing to do with Ventura and drugs - unless it is Ventura speaking out against drugs. A typical Robin Ventura anti-drug statement would be this:

"People worry about the numbers and the history of the game, but it's more about the kids that are coming up behind you and they feel they have to take that stuff to stay at a level," veteran major leaguer Robin Ventura told the New York Post. "I'm not worried about what somebody's numbers are; I'm worried more about somebody's kid feeling they have to do this to compete."

Robin Ventura lived his life as an anti-drug message. Ken Caminiti's death was the ultimate anti-drug message. It just seems unfair to me that one got all the attention.