Dave Kingman

David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948 in Pendleton, Oregon), nicknamed "Kong" and "Sky King", is an American former Major League Baseball slugger who played for the San Francisco Giants (1971-74), New York Mets (1975-77, 1981-83), San Diego Padres (1977), California Angels (1977), New York Yankees (1977), Chicago Cubs (1978-80) and Oakland Athletics (1984-86).

A standout player at the University of Southern California, Kingman began as a pitcher before being converted to an outfielder. In 1970 he was named an All-American and led the Trojans to the College World Series championship. He was selected by the Giants with the first pick of the 1970 secondary phase draft.

The towering 6'6" Kingman became one of the most feared sluggers of the 1970s and 1980s. He hit plenty of home runs, and he could hit them farther than many had ever seen, sometimes over 550 feet; on five separate occasions he hit three home runs in a game. In his first major league game, he hit a home run, and he slugged two more a day later; early the next year, he hit for the cycle. But he also was also apt to strike out regularly, and usually posted a low batting average.

He spent his career with seven teams in both leagues, and was known as a difficult teammate wherever he played. But Kingman never liked the spotlight, and just wanted to play the game and be left alone off the field. His unpredictable and often antisocial behavior, and largely one-dimensional game, led to his being regularly traded. In one three-month stretch in 1977, he was traded, waived, and had his contract sold, becoming the first player to play in four divisions in one year; he was also released after the season.

Kingman had his best year in 1979 when he played his first full season for the Cubs, hitting a respectable .288 with a National League-leading 48 homers, as well as 115 runs batted in and 97 runs scored. His .613 slugging percentage was almost 50 points higher than that of the next closest NL player (Mike Schmidt). Traded to the Mets before the 1981 season, he again led the NL in home runs in 1982.

Always an awkward defensive player while primarily playing the outfield and first base, he played his last three seasons as a designated hitter in Oakland, collecting at least 30 HRs and 90 RBIs in each of those years. He also had two remarkable at-bats in this period which didn't result in HRs, but nonetheless added to his legend: in a 1984 game in Minnesota, he hit a pop-up which went all the way to the roof of the Metrodome, but stuck there; and in a 1985 game in Seattle, he hit a tremendous drive to left field which struck a speaker hanging from the roof of the Kingdome, bounced back and was caught.

In his 16-season career, Dave Kingman batted . 236, with 442 home runs, 1210 runs batted in, 901 runs scored, 1575 hits, 240 doubles, 25 triples and 85 stolen bases in 1941 games played. He also struck out 1,816 times, then the 4th-highest total in history. He was named to the NL All-Star team three times (1976-79-80).

Contents

1 Quotes 2 Highlights 3 Lowlights 4 See also 5 External links

Quotes

• "Everybody's always talking about my strikeouts. If I played everyday, I could strike out maybe 400 times. I have no idea how many home runs I could hit if I played every day. I've never played every day." - Dave Kingman, 1975.
• "A sullen, abrasive personality, his defensive shortcomings and his high strikeout ratio are reasons "Kong" has played for seven major-league teams... Nobody hits 'em farther - or higher." - Zander Hollander, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1985.
• "What I saw of him at third, I didn't like. But he gives us a pretty good guy on the bench and he's insurance in the outfield if Cleon Jones can't do the job." - Yogi Berra, Mets manager, 1975.
• "I told Yogi that if he plays Dave in 150 games, he'll hit 30 homers for them, maybe 40. And after he's playing regularly for a couple of years, he'll be the next man to hit 60 homers." - Bobby Bonds, 1975.

Highlights

• 3-time All-Star (1976, 1979, 1980)
• 2-time NL leader in home runs (48, 1979; 37, 1982)
• Led AL in slugging and OPS (.613 and .956, 1979)
• Tied a MLB record with most times hitting three or more home runs in a game in one season (two)
• Tied a MLB record for home runs in two consecutive games (five)
• Hit three home runs in a game five times, one shy of the MLB record held by Johnny Mize
• Hit 14 grand slams
• One of eight batters with a 3-home run game in both leagues
• Twice hits three home runs and drives in eight runs in a game (at Dodger Stadium, on June 4, 1976 and May 14, 1978)
• Hit for the cycle (April 16, 1972)
• Won AL Comeback Player of the Year Award (1984: .268, 35 HR, 118 RBI)
• His 442 career homers place him 27th in major league history
• He joins Ruppert Jones, Ricky Lee Nelson, Jose Canseco, Alvaro Espinoza and Kevin Millar as the only players in MLB history to hit a fair ball that got stuck in a stadium obstruction. Resource: Baseball Library (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/E/Espinoza_Alvaro.stm)

Lowlights

• First player to play for teams in four divisions in the same year (Mets [NL East], Padres [NL West], Angels [AL West], Yankees [AL East], 1977)
• 3 times led the NL in strikeouts (131, 1979; 105, 1981; 156, 1982)
• Lifetime walks-to-strikeout ratio: 0.258 (608-1816)

See also

• Batters with Two 3-Home run Games in a Season
• MLB players who have hit 30 or more home runs before the All-Star break
• MLB players with four different teams in the same season

External links

• Official website (http://www.davekingman.com/)
• Template:Baseball-reference