cover image Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever

Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever

Dan Good. Abrams, $27 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4197-5363-3

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 [were] using.” This is a must-read for baseball fans. (May)