Results Pending on Caminiti

Less than 24 hours after former teammate Ken Caminiti died of a heart attack, veteran Houston Astros Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell lamented that their troubled friend did not turn to those who could have helped him overcome the drug abuse that may have contributed to his death.

“I think the one thing that he didn’t understand really is how many people out there loved him,” Biggio said before Houston played Atlanta in Game 5 of the National League division series. “There’s a lot of people that wanted to help him and tried to help him. It’s a bad disease. It’s a tough thing.”

Said Bagwell: “It’s a constant battle, from what I’ve heard from people that have had to go through that, and [it’s] nothing that probably any one of us in this room could have imagined.”

It is not known what role, if any, Caminiti’s off-the-field problems had in his death. The medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy Monday but said it needed results from toxicology tests before it could rule on a cause of death. That process could take as long as 10 days.

Caminiti, who died at 41, spent the first eight years of his 15-year career with the Astros before rejoining them for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Biggio called Caminiti “probably the greatest third baseman that I ever played with or against.”

That was little consolation when Biggio spoke glumly about what had been instead of what could have been for Caminiti, who was considering an attempt to redeem himself by rejoining the game as a coach.

Caminiti admitted in 2002 that he had used steroids during his NL MVP season in 1996 with the San Diego Padres, and he acknowledged last week in a Houston courtroom that he had violated his probation last month by testing positive for cocaine.

Nonetheless, Bagwell said he’d like Caminiti to be remembered for his goodheartedness because “that’s where it starts, his heart.... One of the nicest guys, would go out of his way for you no matter what the situation was.”

Houston Manager Phil Garner called the notion that steroids might have contributed to Caminiti’s death “an assumption I’m not willing to make” and declined to use the tragedy as a platform to push for more rigorous drug testing in baseball.

“I do think steroids are a problem,” said Garner, a coach with the Astros for several years while Caminiti was with the team. “I would hope we’re able to eliminate it all the way in baseball.... I think that a great deal of it has been taken out.

“Has it been eradicated? I don’t know that. But clearly in my mind it may not be in use as much as it was.”

Caminiti’s death was especially devastating for Biggio, whose wife is best friends with Caminiti’s estranged wife. The teammates once jointly invested in a piece of property and called it “Cambo,” signifying their friendship.

“In the end, I think probably some of the attributes that we loved about him were things he couldn’t control himself, and that was his intense competitiveness, his desire to be the best,” Garner said. “I think he carried that to the steroid use.

“But he had such a determination that I think maybe when he got into drugs, it was that he couldn’t stop, and that’s unfortunate. It’s a shame.”

-- Ben Bolch

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The Arizona Diamondbacks asked for and were granted permission Monday to interview Angel bench coach Joe Maddon for their vacant managerial job. Maddon could not be reached, and it was unclear if he would accept the invitation.

Maddon, 50, just completed his 30th season in the Angel organization, the last 11 on the major league staff, and he served three different stints as an Angel interim manager, going 33-26. He interviewed for the Boston Red Sox job that went to Terry Francona last winter and is expected to be interviewed for the vacant Seattle job.

Arizona, which fired Bob Brenly this season, has interviewed interim Manager Al Pedrique and former Arizona first baseman and current broadcaster Mark Grace for the job. Former Mariner manager Bob Melvin and Wally Backman, the former Met infielder who is a Class-A manager in Arizona’s farm system, are scheduled to be interviewed this week.

-- Mike DiGiovanna

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The Chicago Cubs fired third base coach Wendell Kim and announced that Gene Clines is replacing Gary Matthews as hitting coach, with Matthews taking Clines’ old spot as first base coach.... Manager Dave Miley got a show of confidence from the Cincinnati Reds’ front office, which extended his contract through the 2006 season.... The Oakland A’s fired bench coach Chris Speier.