CRAIG BIGGIO : CHASING 3,000 HITS / Caminiti's spirit stays with Biggio
By RICHARD JUSTICE
Staff
MILWAUKEE - Craig Biggio picked out a spot of tranquility and beauty, a place he knew Ken Caminiti would have loved.
It was there on his South Texas ranch that Biggio buried Caminiti last winter, the final journey of a life filled with both joy and turmoil. Family members gathered to laugh and cry, to remember happier times.
"I don't know if I can explain it, but doing this just felt right," Biggio said. "It's something I'd been thinking about."
Back when they were young big leaguers, when they were teammates and buddies and figured they'd live forever, they bought a ranch together in South Texas.
They called it Cambo. Get it? Caminiti and Biggio. Cambo. They weren't ranching partners for long, but the name endured.
"When our family bought the place we have now, I asked my boys if they wanted to change the name," Biggio said. "They said, `No, we love it.' "
Tonight, as the Astros begin a celebration of Craig Biggio's remarkable career with SRO crowds at Minute Maid Park in anticipation of his 3,000th hit, Ken Caminiti will be there in spirit.
Theirs was a complicated relationship, one that evolved from friendship to frustration to finally estrangement as Caminiti struggled with the demons of addiction that eventually killed him in October 2004.
Biggio learned of Caminiti's death in Atlanta a few hours before the Astros clinched a playoff series for the first time. That night, hours before the first pitch, Biggio escaped alone with his thoughts to the visitors' dugout at Turner Field.
He hadn't been close to Caminiti in those final years. He'd worried and prayed, cajoled and cautioned so many times that, in the end, he could do no more.
"Sometimes you have to let go," Biggio said. "We'd taken it as far as we could. It's just so sad. He was so young (41). He had three daughters who loved him."
Biggio gave a tearful eulogy at Caminiti's funeral but had never really come to peace with the death. Last winter, he asked the family about moving Caminiti's body from its original burial place to the ranch.
He pauses and shrugs. There are no words. He may never understand Ken Caminiti's life. He may never stop trying.
"People ask me what kind of person he was," Biggio said. "Everyone knows what kind of player he was. He was a warrior. He played in any kind of pain. He had an obligation to the people who depended on him. He was the guy you'd want in your foxhole.
"He was a great guy, too. He was one of those people that would give you the last dollar he had. If you needed something, he'd be there for you, no questions asked. I always said that if I was in trouble and had one telephone call, he'd be the one I'd want to call."
Caminiti arrived in the big leagues in 1987, a year ahead of Biggio. They became full-time players together in 1989, and with Jeff Bagwell and Darryl Kile arriving two years later, the Astros had a core of players around whom they could build.
They were young and confident and had the world in the palm of their hands in those early years. Nothing ever turns out quite the way it's supposed to.
Kile departed via free agency, remaining close, but died in his sleep of a heart ailment in 2002. Caminiti died in 2004. Even Bagwell's career was tinged by a different kind of sadness. A bum shoulder forced him into retirement, leaving only Biggio playing on, 20 seasons and counting, on the verge of becoming the 27th member of one of baseball's most exclusive clubs.
He hopes to have Caminiti's daughters at Minute Maid Park for the occasion. He'll have others, too, countless coaches and teammates and friends. He'll be reminded again and again of all the people he has touched and the friends he has made.
In the midst of a terrible season, we're allowed to pause and salute a remarkable player, someone who has personified everything we want our professional athletes to be.
Biggio will have some of all of them riding with him, some of the lessons Nolan Ryan and Billy Doran taught him. He'll always be connected to Bagwell in the hearts and minds of fans. Had things turned out differently, Caminiti might have stayed, too. He remained close to those guys he came up with even as his life spiraled out of control. Biggio is comfortable he did the best he could and thankful he got another chance to say goodbye last winter.
