The Houston Astros have announced that former third baseman Ken Caminiti and former, longtime Spanish radio broadcaster René Cárdenas have been elected into the Astros Hall of Fame presented by Houston Methodist.
The two were elected by the Astros Hall of Fame committee, which consists of former Astros players, current front-office personnel, current media members, and historians from the greater Houston metro area.
Caminiti is being inducted posthumously as he passed away in 2004. The two will officially be inducted during a ceremony on Saturday, August 17, before the Astros 6:10 p.m. game vs. the Chicago White Sox. Both Caminiti and Cárdenas will receive an Astros Hall of Fame sports coat and customized Hall of Fame plaque. Caminiti will be represented by his family.
During his 10 seasons in an Astros uniform (1987-94, 1999-2000), All-Star Ken Caminiti developed a reputation as one of the finest defensive third basemen of his era. Over six years as a starter with the Astros (1989-1994), Caminiti led all National League third basemen in games (841) and putouts (677) while ranking second in assists (1,545) and total chances (2,332). In franchise history, he ranks second all-time among third basemen in games (1,063), innings (9,043), and assists (1,906), and third in putouts (828).
Caminiti ranks third among Astros third basemen in career RBI with 546, which ranks 11th all-time in franchise history. Among Astros switch-hitters, he ranks second all-time only to Lance Berkman in several categories, including home runs, RBI, and doubles. Caminiti was also a clutch performer in the postseason for the Astros, hitting .471 (8×17) in the 1999 NLDS vs. Atlanta with three home runs and eight RBI while posting a 1.526 OPS.
Caminiti also played four seasons with the San Diego Padres (1995-98) and had brief stints with the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves in 2001. While in San Diego, he excelled, earning NL MVP honors in 1996 (40 HR, 130 RBI). In his career, Caminiti earned three All-Star appearances and three Gold Glove Awards.
Cárdenas truly was a broadcasting pioneer for both the Colt .45s/Astros organization and for Major League Baseball. In 1958, he became the first full-time Spanish-language broadcaster to call games for a Major League Baseball team when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as their original Spanish radio broadcaster.
In 1961, he was hired by the expansion Houston Colt .45s (now the Houston Astros) to pioneer their Spanish radio broadcasts as both their first broadcaster and as director of Spanish broadcasting. By 1966, Cárdenas had created the first international radio network for baseball to help the Astros recruit talent in South America and Central America. That network reached 13 different countries in those regions.
Cárdenas would call Astros games for 14 seasons before returning to Nicaragua in 1975, where he called baseball games on both television and radio. In 1982, he returned to Los Angeles where he would call games for the Dodgers for several more seasons before returning to the Astros Spanish radio broadcast in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he also called several Astros games in Spanish on television for the first time.
The Astros Hall of Fame presented by Houston Methodist was first established in 2019 and resides in Hall of Fame Alley on the main concourse of Minute Maid Park in left-center field. The Class of 2024 will join the 26 members previously inducted.