Third baseman Ken Caminiti has earned the nickname "Scary Man" from his San Diego Padres teammates because he concentrates so hard on the baseball diamond that he gets a frightening look in his eye. He scared opposing pitchers so much in 1996--hitting .326 with 40 home runs and 130 runs batted in (RBI)--that he earned the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and led the Padres to the Western Division title. A virtually unknown player for several major-league seasons with the Houston Astros, Caminiti became a star after winning the most important battle of his life--against alcohol addiction.

Growing up

Top secret

Kenneth Gene Caminiti was born April 21, 1963, in Hanford, California. He grew up in San Jose, California, with his parents, Lee and Yvonne. Lee Caminiti worked at Lockheed Corporation, a company involved with secret government aerospace projects. Because the projects were secret, he could not even tell his...