Dave Kingman (Part One) The Sluggers First Mets Years (1975-1977)

David Arthur Kingman was born December 21, 1948, in Pendleton, Oregon. His father worked with United Airlines & moved the family around the country often. When Kingman was three years old his family moved to Colorado, then when he was six to Los Angeles, finally settling in Mount Prospect Illinois.

Kingman went to high school in Illinois & was drafted twice in the late sixties.

The first time as a first-round pick in 1968 by the Baltimore Orioles but he did not sign. 

USC: Kingman then attended the University of Southern California where he became a star college player.  First off he was a four-year letter winner at basketball. 

Kingman was converted to an outfielder there by legendary coach Rod Dedeaux. He was also a member of the Trojans College World Series Championship in 1980. 

The big six-foot six right-handed Kingman was quickly drafted in the first round, as the number one overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in 1970.

Trivia:  The strong power hitter became known as Kong for his size, strength & long HRs. He quickly earned a reputation as a slugger & he became one of those players that when he came to bat, everyone stopped whatever they were doing to watch him. 

He spent 1970 at AA hitting 15 HRs in 210 at bats. At AAA Phoenix in 1971 he hit 26 HRs with a .557 slugging% in 109 games (392) at bats.

MLB Debut: Kingman was brought up to the first place Giants on July 30th. In his first MLB game he appeared as a pinch runner for Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. 

In his second MLB game he hit his first career HR, it was a grand slam off the Pirates Dave Guisti.

The next day he hit two more HRs off Doc Ellis in the second game of a double header, in a 8-3 win over the Pirates. He would see more playing time through the regular season hitting just three more HRs. Kingman had the game winning hit in the Giants win over the Astros clinching the NL West.

Post Season: The Giants won the west & faced the Pittsburgh Pirates losing the series in four games. Kingman went 1-9 with a walk in the series. It was his only post season appearance in a 16-year career.

Hitting For the Cycle & 6 RBIs: On April 16th, 1972, in the second game of the year, Kingman hit for the cycle in a 10-6 win at the Astrodome. He singled in a run his first at bat, then tripled in another the 4th inning. Both hits came off Astro pitcher Dave Roberts. In the 5th inning he had an RBI double off Jim Ray & then topped off his day with a three run HR off Wade Blasingame in the 7th.

For the 1972 Giants he played in 135 games hitting 29 HRs (6th in the NL) with 17 doubles & 83 RBIs but only batted .225. He struck out 140 times. At third base he had a strong arm but made 14 errors in just 59 games & eventually moved to become a first baseman. 

Kingman would hit many HRs, but always hit for low averages striking out quite often. He would strike out over 120 times six straight seasons from 1972-1977.

In 1973 he played in 112 games, hit 24 HRs with 10 doubles & 55 RBIs batting just .203. He drew 41 walks which improved his on base % to .300. 

From August 20th to September 4th, he hit seven HRs with 15 RBIs.

That year he pitched in two games for the Giants as well, one against the Cincinnati Reds in April & the other against the L.A. Dodgers in May. Over four innings he walked six batters, allowing four runs on three hits.

In 1974 Kingman led all first baseman in errors (13) posting a .983 fielding %. He also struck out 125 times (4th in the NL) while hitting 18 HRs with 55 RBIs batting .220 for the fifth place Giants. 

In the off season the New York Mets were desperately in need of some power & the Giants were in need of cash. The Mets purchased him from San Francisco for $150,000.

Mets Career: When he came to the Mets in Spring Training 1975, Mets manager Yogi Berra said "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.”

Kingman started out as a fourth outfielder but ended up playing in 132 games with over 500 at bats. He would end up taking over Cleon Jones position in left field. The lack of playing time for Jones led to his eventual release after a public feud with manager Yogi Berra.

Kingman debuted on Opening Day in right field batting fifth, he showed New York his power right away with a 4th inning HR off Philadelphia's Steve Carlton. That day the other newly acquired Met, Joe Torre had a game winning RBI single in the 9th to give Tom Seaver his first win in what would be his third Cy Young Award season. 

In Kingman's third & fourth games as a Met, he hit HRs in both of them, coming at Pittsburgh
against the Pirates. He was making his slugging presence known right away.

On June 3rd, Kingman hit a three run HR off Houston's Ken Forsch leading to a Mets 4-3 win over the Astros at Shea. On June 27th, Kingman hit a two run HR in the Mets four run 1st inning of a 4-2 win over the Phillies.

NL Player of the Month: In July he won the NL Player of the Month Award, having a massive month, with 13 HRs 5 doubles 31 RBIs & batting .322 as he collected 39 hits in 121 at bats. 

Kong: Kingman earned the nick names “Kong” & “Sky King” in New York. Although Sky King had more to do with his long high fly balls.

On the Fourth of July in Philadelphia, he hit a 9th inning HR off Tug McGraw leading up to two run Jerry Grote HR giving the Mets a 4-3 win. Later that week Kingman hit HRs in back-to-back games in Atlanta. On July 7th, he hit a two run HR off Jamie Easterly leading to the Mets 3-1 win. The next day his three-run shot off Carl Morton led to a Jerry Koosman 4-3 win. In his first nine games of the month, he hit 4 HRs with 10 RBIs.

Six RBI Day: On July 20th at the Houston Astrodome, Kingman had the first of three multi-HR games of the season. He hit two HRs with three hits, while droving in six runs in the Mets 10-9 win over the Astros. His first blast was a 5th inning three run shot off Dave Roberts. The second HR was a two-run shot in the 8th inning off Wayne Granger. The HRs were his 17th & 18th if the year.

Player of the Week: For the week of July 27, he also the won Player of the Week honors. 

On July 25th, Kingman hit his 20th HR of the year, coming off Rick Reuschel in a 6-3 win over the Cubs. Kingman would hit HRs in three straight games, as the Mets took three of the four games at Wrigley Field.

In the final five days of July, spanning nine games, which included two double headers, Kingman hit five HRs with 12 RBIs.  

Multi HR Game: On July 31st in a 6-2 win at Three River Stadium, Kingman hit a pair of HRs off the Pirates Jim Rooker driving in three of the runs, helping Jerry Koosman to his tenth win of the year. 

He would miss a week of action in August, hitting his next HR on August 20th, a three-run shot off Dave Roberts in a 4-3 Mets loss in Houston.

Grand Slam HR: On August 24th in the first game of a double header at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Kingman hit a grand slam HR off the Giants Jim Barr, leading the Mets to a 9-5 win over the Giants. It was his third career grand slam & his 26th HR of the year.

On that West Coast Road trip, he homered again in San Diego & then at Dodger Stadium, a three-run shot off Don Sutton in a 6-1 Mets win, helping Jon Matlack to his 16th win of the year.

In the first seven games of September, hit three more HRs. On September 5th, he hit his 30th HR of the year, reaching a new career season high.

Multi HR Game: On September 10th, he had his third multi-HR game of the year, hitting HRs off Jim Rooker & Dave Guisti in a loss to the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. 

Walk Off HR: On September 18th, Kingman came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning, in a 5-5 tied game with the Cubs. Kong hit a walk off game wining HR off Chicago's pitcher Darold Knowles. 

It was his 35th HR of the year as he was in the running for the NL lead with Mike Schmidt.

For the 1975 season Kingman led the team with 36 HRs setting a Mets single season HR record. 

He would finish second to Mike Schmidt in HRs & two ahead of another Phiilie, Greg Luzinski.

He hit 22 doubles and drove in 88 runs second to only Rusty Staub, while batting only .231 with a poor .284 on base %. He played 111 games in the outfield & 58 games at first base.

Kingman also led the club in slugging % (.464%) strikeouts (153 which were also second most in the league) & believe it or not stolen bases (7). 

Quotes- Dave Kingman: "Everybody's always talking about my strikeouts. If I played every day, I could strike out maybe 400 times. I have no idea how many HRs I could hit if I played every day. I've never played every day."

1976 Bicentennial Year: Kingman started out hitting four HRs in the first week of the season. That April, he started out the season with nine HRs & 20 RBIs.

One of Longest HRs Ever Hit at Wrigley Field: On April 14th Kingman hit what is known as one of the longest HRs ever hit at Chicago's Wrigley Field. In the top of the 6th inning, the Mets were leading the Cubs 3-2 as Dave Kingman came to bat with Wayne Garrett on first base & no one out. 

Kingman was facing Tom Dettore & launched a massive HR that traveled an estimated 540 feet well over the left field bleachers, past Waveland Avenue & three houses past the corner onto a stoop at 3705 Kenmore Avenue.

A HR hit by Roberto Clemente in 1959 is estimated to be a close second to Kingman's shot. The Kingman HR is more well documented with witnesses & newspaper articles. The Mets took a 6-5 loss that day.

Kingman's HR landed on the steps of this blue house behind Wrigley Field.

Quotes- Mets announcer Ralph Kiner: “Kingman can hit them out of any park, including Yellowstone”.

Multi HR- Five RBI Game: The next day, he hit two HRs at Wrigley Field, driving in five runs leading New York to a 10-8 win over the Cubs. In the 2nd inning, he hit a two run HR off Bill Bonham. In the top of the 9th inning with Mets down 8-7 he hit a three run HR off Tom Dettore once again, this time leading the Mets to a victory.

Kingman hit three more HRs in a two-day span at Pittsburgh the following week. On April 17th he hit a three run HR in a 17-1 Mets win. The next day he hit two HRs off Jerry Ruess driving in four runs.

In the month of May he hit eight HRs & drove in 18 runs. 

Multi HR & Five RBI Game: On May 7th, Kingman hit two HRs & drove in five runs in a 6-2 Mets win over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. 

In the 1st inning, Kingman hit a two-run shot off Randy Jones, then hit an 8th inning three run HR off Mike Dupree, helping Jerry Koosman to his third victory. It was his second of three five RBI games he would have on the year. 

On May 12th he had another multi-HR game hitting a pair driving three Mets runs in a 6-3 win at Atlanta. He hit three more HRs that month.

Three HR - 8 RBI Day: On June 4th Kingman set a Mets record driving in eight runs on the day highlighted by three HRs.  Kingman blasted two HRs off the Dodgers knuckleball pitcher Burt Hooton. The first was a two run HR in the 4th inning & then a three-run shot in the Mets five run 5th inning. 

In the 7th inning he hit his third HR, a three-run shot off-veteran Al Downing. Kingman's eight RBI's assisted Tom Seaver to an easy 11-0 shutout at Dodger Stadium for his fifth win of the year. 

Walk Off HR: On June 17th at Shea Stadium, Craig Swan shut out the Dodgers for ten innings, allowing just three hits. The Dodgers Don Sutton shut out the Mets for six innings as well. The game went to the 14th inning scoreless, as Mets reliever Skip Lockwood continued to hold the Dodgers scoreless. Kingman came to bat against Charlie Hough with one out in the inning, hitting a walk off HR to beat Los Angeles 1-0.

In the final week of June, Kingman hit HRs in four of five games & drove in runs in six straight games, with 12 RBIs. 

On June 25th, at Wrigley Field he hit a three-run shot off Ray Burris & had an RBI single, driving in four runs to beat the Cubs 7-4. He hit a solo shot the next day for his 25th of the season in a 10-2 Mets win. 

Next, he homered in back-to-back wins over St. Louis at Shea Stadium. On June 28th, he hit a two run HR off the Cards Pete Falcone, driving in the only two runs of Mickey Lolich's three-hit shutout.

On July 10th he hit two HRs, in a 4-2 win over the Braves, getting him to the 30 HR mark before the All-Star break. He hit three HRs in the week leading up to the All-Star break. 

1976 All Star: In the bicentennial year, the All-Star game was played in Philadelphia. Kingman along with teammates; Tom Seaver & Jon Matlack represented the Mets. Kingman went 0-2 in the National Leagues 7-1 win in that Mid-Summer Classic. 

He returned for the second half & hit a HR right after the break, helping the Mets to a 3-1 win in Houston. 

Kingman then missed almost six weeks of action going on the DL which hurt his chances of becoming the NL HR champ. He was on track to reach over 60 HRs that season, but the injury ruined any chance of that as well as hurting the Mets season.

He finished the year with 37 HRs coming in second place once again in the National league to Mike Schmidt. This was not a category any other Met before Kong was usually seen on any of the leader boards. 

He led the team in RBIs (86) runs scored (70) slugging (.506%) & strike outs (135) hitting only 14 doubles with a .238 average.

Kingman was a terrible fielder, he made ten errors in the Mets outfield in 111 games. Phillies broadcaster & former 1962 NY Met Ritchie Ashburn said, "if Kingman needed to repair his glove, he’d have to get a welder."

Kingman Drama: But soon drama began to surround the HR hitter. Kong didn’t want to be in
the limelight and didn’t like the media. He wanted to be left alone & found New York a difficult place to play.

He was very anti-social and was known as a difficult teammate. One Mets teammate stated publicly that Kingman had "the personality of a tree stump.

1977: By 1977 he wasn’t happy with the team that was now in shambles. The Mets did not go after any free agents & Tom Seaver was traded away in June. The Mets soon fell into last place.

In the second game of the season, Kingman hit a three run HR at Wrigley Field leading the team to an 8-6 win. He hit six HRs in the month of April with 18 RBIs, batting .294 playing in just 17 games. From April 15th to April 18th, Kingman drove in seven runs in four straight games.

Six RBI Day: On April 29th he had another huge day with six RBIs at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego in front of 43,000 fans. Kingman blasted two three run HRs leading New York to a 9-2 win. 

He cooled off from there hitting just two HRs in the month of May, both coming from May 11th to May 13th. Kingman wanted out of New York, as well as some of the others in the Mets club house. 

On June 5th he hit his last HR for the Mets for that season, it came in the second game of a double header at Philadelphia. He drove in all three runs in the Mets 3-2 win. After 58 games he was batting a low .209 with 9 HRs and 29 RBIs.

The Midnight Massacre: On the June 15th, 1977, trade deadline, the same day Tom Seaver was traded on what is now known as the Midnight Massacre, Kingman was also dealt away. Kong was sent to the San Diego Padres for Bobby Valentine & Paul Siebert.

Post Mets Career: His stay was short in San Diego as he played in 56 games there hitting 11 HRs with 39 RBIs. Kingman would get placed on waivers & get picked up by the Angles for one week & was then dealt to the AL New York team for a minor leaguer. There he hit four HRs in eight games.

Trivia: Kingman became the first player to play in four divisions in one season. Kingman was also the only player to hit HRs in all four MLB divisions in the same month. 

Cubs Career: In 1978 he signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. In the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, he hit 28 HRs with 79 RBIs while batting .266 in 119 games, missing some action due to injury. 

Three HR Game: On May 14th, he hit three HRs in a 15-inning game at Dodger Stadium, he connected off Doug Rau, Mike Garman & then a three-run shot in the top of the 15th off Rick Rhoden leading to the 10-7 win. After the game L.A. manager Tommy Lasorda went on an explosive rant about the HRs when questioned by the media.

In 1979 he had the biggest year of his career, hitting a career best .288 while leading the N.L. in HRs (48) Slugging percentage (.613%) OPS (.956) as well as strikeouts (131). Kingman drove in 115 runs which was second most in the league, had 72 extra base hits (3rd in the NL) scored 97 runs and made his second All Star team.

Three HR Game: On May 17th in a wild 23-22 win over the Phillies at Wrigley field, he hit three HRs & drove in six runs. The HRs came off Doug Bird (two run shot) Randy Lerch (three run shot) & Ron Reed (solo shot).

In June he homered in four straight games, while driving in runs in seven straight games.  That month he hit 12 HRs with 25 RBIs

Record Setter: At the end of July, he tied an MLB record hitting five HRs in two consecutive games against his old Mets teammates. On July 27th he homered twice off the Mets Doc Ellis in a 4-2 win at Shea Stadium. 

In the next game he homered twice off Pete Falcone then hit his fifth straight HR off Neil Allen in the 8th inning. All the HRs were solo shots as the Mets won that game 8-6. That week he won the NL Player of the Week Award. He also tied a record that year by hitting three or more HRs twice in one season.

Soon Kingman wore out his welcome in Chicago too, in 1980 after playing only 81 games he was traded back to the New York Mets for Steve Henderson in February of 1981.