Judge holds Caminiti’s fate after drug test
Former Houston Astro Ken Caminiti had everything: wealth, fame, family…all because he played a kid’s game the way it’s supposed to be played: hard and fair. He was as tough as they came- on the field. It turns out that the game between the lines was the easy part of the deal for Caminiti. Dealing with life outside the verdant, well-manicured fields upon which he plied his trade has proven to be a much greater challenge for Caminiti than any of us might have imagined.
That Caminiti is a drug addict is no longer news in Houston. His being busted for various drug offenses is equally non-newsworthy. The truly sad thing is that the legal system here had bent over backwards to provide him with every conceivable opportunity to turn his life around…and it just isn’t happening.
Caminiti remained in the Harris County jail today after his private meeting with probation officer Tracy Burns. She has handled his case since he was sentenced to three years’ deferred adjudication probation after his 2001 arrest in a Houston motel room.
The former slugger, who played for the Houston Astros twice over a 15-year career and lives in Houston, will apply for a bond Wednesday so he can be free until an Oct. 5 hearing….
Caminiti flunked a random urine test last week, Burns said. State District Judge Bill Harmon authorized an arrest warrant and Caminiti was picked up Friday.
With deferred adjudication, Caminiti had the chance to erase the guilty plea from his record if he stayed clean. Now, he could face more outpatient treatment, enrollment in a private facility, another stint in state-funded therapy or six months to two years in the prison system.
Burns indicated she was leaning toward recommending inpatient treatment.
“He does want treatment,” Burns said. “Judge Harmon always has been amenable to giving people treatment for substance abuse problems.”
Ken Caminiti is no more a DUMB@$$ than multitudes of others who have lost their lives, their livelihoods, and their families to drugs. His higher profile due to his baseball career has proven to be no insulation from this addiction. Indeed, drugs don’t discriminate. They’re an equal-opportunity enslaver.
The fact that Caminiti has fallen so far so quickly and so publicly does make him a DUMB@$$, albeit one worthy of our pity and prayers. Ken Caminiti had the opportunity to live a life of luxury and ease after the end of his baseball career. For whatever reason, though, his personal demons have clearly gotten the best of him. What a waste.
I guess athletes really AREN’T role models….
