Dave Kingman

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David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948 in Pendleton, Oregon), nicknamed "Kong" and "Sky King", is a 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).

Dave Kingman (1970s)

Contents

1 College Career
2 Professional Career
3 Retirement
4 Quotes
5 Lowlights
6 See also
7 External links

College Career

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.

Professional Career

The towering 6'6" Kingman became 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, 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 his free-swinging cut both ways, as he 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. (One Mets teammate stated publicly that Kingman had "the personality of a tree stump"; Chicago columnist Mike Royko referred to him as "Dave Ding-Dong"). 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). That was the year he showed the most discipline at the plate, and it paid off, but it did not last, and his popularity with the Cubs soon faded. 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).

Retirement

Kingman has occasionally played in "fantasy camps" opposite citizens who pay for the privilege of facing off against former major leaguers. With his career and controversies in the past, and with maturity, he tends to come across as relaxed and genial.

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.
"What's my opinion of Kingman's performance!? What the BLEEP do you think is my opinion of it? I think it was BLEEPING BLEEP. Put that in, I don't BLEEP. Opinion of his performance!!? BLEEP, he beat us with three BLEEPING home runs! What the BLEEP do you mean, 'What is my opinion of his performance?' How could you ask me a question like that, 'What is my opinion of his performance?' BLEEP, he hit three home runs! BLEEP. I'm BLEEPING BLEEPED off to lose that BLEEPING game. And you ask me my opinion of his performance! BLEEP. That's a tough question to ask me, isn't it? 'What is my opinion of his performance?'" - Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, 1976, in response to a question from reporter Paul Olden about Kingman's hitting of three home runs during a June 4, 1976 11-0 victory by the Mets over the Dodgers
"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.
"That one's in Milwaukee!" - Chicago radio broadcaster Lou Boudreau, describing a very long Kingman home run at Wrigley Field.

Lowlights

In 1977 became the first player to play in four different divisions in the same year - New York Mets (National League East), San Diego Padres (National League West), Los Angeles Angels (American League West) and New York Yankees (American League East)
Led the National League in strikeouts 3 times (131, 1979; 105, 1981; 156, 1982)
In 1982 he hit 37 home runs, a new Mets' single-season record, which stood until Darryl Strawberry hit 39 in 1987. But he 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 anyone during the season they lead in home runs.
Lifetime walks-to-strikeout ratio: 0.258 (608-1816)

External links

[Official website]
[Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis

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