David Arthur Kingman (born
December 21, in ), nicknamed "Kong" and "Sky King," is a former
Major League Baseball player. The towering 6'6" Kingman was one of the most feared sluggers of the 1970s and 1980s. His height and long-armed, sweeping swing were sufficient to propel a baseball a very long distance when he connected solidly. It was said of him that he was one of those players that when he came to bat, everyone in the park stopped whatever they were doing to watch him. He hit plenty of
home runs, and he could hit them farther than many had ever seen, once over 530 feet.
His free-swinging, however, cut both ways, as he was also apt to
strike out frequently, and usually posted a low
batting average and
on-base percentage, often leading the league in outs made. His 1,816 strikeouts was the fourth-highest total in MLB history at the time of his retirement. He currently ranks tenth.
USC Trojans
Kingman was drafted by the
California Angels out of high school in the second round of the
1967 Major League Baseball Draft, and by the
Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the
1968 draft, but chose, instead, to play
baseball at the
University of Southern California under legendary coach
Rod Dedeaux. Kingman began as a
pitcher before being converted to an
outfielder. In , he was named an
All-American and led the Trojans to the
College World Series championship. He was selected by the
San Francisco Giants with the first pick of the
secondary phase draft.
San Francisco Giants
Kingman came up as an outfielder and
first baseman with the San Francisco Giants. He made his major league debut on July 30, ,
pinch running for
Willie McCovey, and finishing the game at first base. In his next two games, he showed some of the power that would make him one of the most feared sluggers of his era, hitting a home run in his next game, and slugging two more a day later.
On April 16, , the second day of the season, Kingman
hit for the cycle in the Giants' 10-6 victory over the
Houston Astros. a day earlier, he made his debut as a
third baseman, a position he would play off and on for the remainder of his Giants career. Kingman also made his major league debut on the mound with the Giants, pitching two innings of "mop up duty" on an 11-0 loss to the
Cincinnati Reds on April 15, . He pitched again in the mop up role on May 13 in a 15-3 loss to the
Los Angeles Dodgers. In both games, he pitched the final two innings and gave up two
earned runs.
In , he committed twelve
errors in 59 chances at third, and lost his starting job to
Steve Ontiveros. Following the season, the Giants sold him to the
New York Mets.
New York Mets
Kingman did play twelve games at third with the Mets, however, the Mets essentially abandoned the idea of Kingman as a third baseman, and kept him at his two primary positions. He emerged as a slugger upon his arrival in
New York, setting a club record with 36 home runs in . However, he also only scored 65
runs, the highest percentage of runs scored on homers for anyone that hit more than 30 in a season. A year later, he broke his own record with 37 homers, and was elected to start in right field for the
1976 National League All-Star team.
Facing the
Chicago Cubs at
Wrigley Field on April 14, , Kingman hit what is likely the longest home run of his career, and believed to be the longest in the history of the Cubs ballpark. It was a warm week at Wrigley, with a strong southerly breeze. There is a street called Kenmore Avenue that T's into Waveland Avenue behind left-center field. Kenmore is lined with houses, and the ball Kingman launched landed on the third porch roof on the east side of Kenmore, a shot estimated at 550 feet. Despite this monster shot, the Cubs beat the Mets 6-5.
The best game of Kingman's Mets career occurred on June 4, when he hit three home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Mets' 11-0 victory (the first of five times Kingman accomplished this feat in his major league career). Kingman would repeat this feat against the Dodgers two years later.
1977 season
Kingman was batting only .209 with nine home runs when he became part of the infamous "Saturday Night Massacre" in New York. On June 15, , the Mets traded Kingman to the
San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher
Paul Siebert and
Bobby Valentine, sent
Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for
Pat Zachry,
Doug Flynn,
Steve Henderson and
Dan Norman, and
Mike Phillips to the
St. Louis Cardinals for
Joel Youngblood.
On September 6, 1977, Kingman was selected off waivers by the California Angels from the San Diego Padres, and on September 15, the Angels sent him to the
New York Yankees for
Randy Stein and cash, making him the only player to compete in all four major league divisions in one season. The Yankees went on to win the
World Series that year, but Kingman was not on the post-season roster.
Chicago Cubs
Following the season, Kingman signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. One of Kingman's career days at the plate occurred in Los Angeles on May 14, . He hit three home runs against the Dodgers, including a three run shot in the top of the 15th inning that gave the Cubs a 10-7 victory. Eight of the Cubs' ten runs were driven in by Kingman. The game was punctuated by an oft-replayed (and censored) post-game tirade by Dodgers' manager
Tommy Lasorda after radio reporter Paul Olden asked him his opinion of Kingman's performance that day.
The best season of Kingman's career came with the Cubs in , when he batted an impressive .288 with a National League-leading 48 homers, as well as 115
runs batted in (second to San Diego's
Dave Winfield's 118) and 97 runs scored. He hit three home runs in a game twice that season, both coming in Cubs losses. The first was a memorable slugging duel with
Mike Schmidt; each hit three home runs in the game, with Schmidt delivering the killing blow in the top of the tenth inning to give the Phillies a 23-22 victory. The second three homer game for Kingman that year came against his former team on July 28 at
Shea Stadium in a 6-4 loss to the Mets.
His .613
slugging percentage was almost 50 points higher than that of his next closest National League competition, Mike Schmidt. Kingman finished eleventh in NL MVP balloting that year despite leading the league in strikeouts for the first time in his career (131).
In , Kingman's enigmatic personality (which former Mets teammate
John Stearns once compared to a tree trunk) began to assert itself, as he dumped ice water on a reporter's head during
Spring training. Kingman claimed he was often misquoted, and he began appearing regularly in the
Chicago Tribune, as the nominal author of a ghost-written column.
Mike Royko, then writing for the rival
Chicago Sun-Times, parodied Kingman's column with a series said to be written by "Dave Dingdong." Kingman eventually quarreled with his own ghostwriter. The series came to an end, and so did Kingman's days with the Cubs.
Return to New York
In January 1980, the
Payson heirs sold the Mets franchise to the
Doubleday publishing company for $21.1 million.
Nelson Doubleday, Jr. was named chairman of the board while minority shareholder
Fred Wilpon took the role of club president. On February 28, , eager to make right with a fan base that had become disenfranchised with the team, the Mets reacquired Kingman from the Cubs for Steve Henderson and cash. In separate deals, the new organization also reacquired
Rusty Staub, and two seasons later, Tom Seaver.
Kingman primarily played first base upon his return to the Mets in 1981, and exclusively there his second season back in New York. In , he tied his own Mets' single-season home run record, but also batted just .204, the lowest batting average ever recorded for a first baseman with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. Leading the league in home runs that year, it is also the lowest batting average for any season's home run leader. Additionally, he accomplished the dubious feat of leading the league in home runs while having a lower batting average than the
Cy Young Award winner, (
Steve Carlton, .218).
Kingman led the NL in strike outs both of his first two seasons in New York (105 in 1981 & 156 in 1982). On June 15, , the sixth anniversary of the "Saturday Night Massacre," the Mets acquired first baseman
Keith Hernandez from the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers
Neil Allen and
Rick Ownbey. Kingman remained with the team for the remainder of the season in a limited role. He was released at the end of the season, and signed as a free agent with the
Oakland Athletics.
Oakland A's
On April 16, 1984, Kingman collected his fifth and final 3-homer game, in a 9-6 win over the
Seattle Mariners. Always an awkward defensive player, he made just nine appearances at first base in , and was the A's regular
designated hitter the remainder of the time. For the season, Kingman hit 35 home runs and drove in 118 runs to be named the
American League's
Comeback Player of the Year, and finish 13th in MVP balloting.
In three seasons as a DH in Oakland, he collecting at least 30 home runs and 90 RBIs in each of those years. He also had two remarkable at-bats in this period which did not result in home runs, but nonetheless added to his legend: in the
Metrodome at
Minnesota, on May 4, 1984, he hit a pop-up that stuck to the roof for a
ground rule double. In a game in
Seattle on April 11, , he hit a tremendous drive to
left field which struck a speaker hanging from the roof of the
Kingdome, bounced back and was caught.
Lifetime walks-to-strikeout ratio: 0.335 (608-1816)
Hall of Fame candidacy
Kingman signed with the San Francisco Giants during the season. After twenty minor league games in which he batted .203, he retired.
While impressively belting out more than 400 home runs in his career, he was never a serious candidate for the
Baseball Hall of Fame. In his first year of eligibility, , he appeared on just three ballots, disqualifying him from future BBWAA voting. He was the first player to hit 400 or more home runs without being eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame.
See also
