2022

This is the year when my book about Ken Caminiti will go from an idea kicking around in my mind to something for anyone to read.

This is the year to finally set this story free.

The year when my book about Ken Caminiti will go from an idea kicking around in my mind to something for anyone to read.

The culmination of a decade's worth of effort and struggle and doubt and enthusiasm and interest and humility and determination.

The publishing date for my book, May 31, is a few short months away.

Click here to pre-order a copy of my upcoming book “Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever.”

I'm going to live in the moment throughout this process. There are bound to be ups and downs. Something will inevitably go wrong. If anything, COVID-19 has taught me not to expect or assume anything, and simply to appreciate the wins as they come.

Publishing a book is scary because so much of the publishing process is out of the writer's control. Paper shortages. Competing titles. Timing. All you can do is pray to the book gods and hope for the best.

I'm encouraged by the feedback I've gotten so far. Brad Balukjian, author of the awesome, powerful The Wax Pack (if you haven’t read it yet, you need to do so now) tweeted his support after reading an early copy of my book ... which was awesome to see and means a great deal to me.

The Wax Pack @waxpackbook

I am reading an advance copy of @Dgood73's "Playing Through the Pain" about Ken Caminiti. Get yourself a copy when it comes out on 5/31; voluminous research, an indefatigable writer. Based on 400 interviews.

The book has also been listed among the most anticipated sports releases of the year alongside books by titans like Howard Bryant, Jeff Pearlman and Roland Lazenby. Seeing my project listed in the same article as theirs, and thinking of it one day sharing bookshelf space, is such a joyous and scary feeling.

The truth with a book is, you never know. You never know how people will feel about it. If they will like it. Or hate it. If you missed something. If the quality holds up. I just know I worked really hard on this book, harder than I've worked on anything in my life, and I hope it means something to you if you choose to read it.

In the meantime, I'm going to embrace this journey and keep sharing stories and writing about Ken Caminiti. I’m going to use this space to post some of the stories on the fringes of Ken’s life or those that got trimmed or cut from the final manuscript. Or material that didn’t quite fit in the book but works better here.

I have so much to share with you -- and this is the year to do it.