20 Facts about Dave “Kong” Kingman that you may not know:
- He was a 4-year letter winner in basketball (averaged 16 PPG) and in baseball (where he was the school’s ace pitcher) at Prospect High School in Illinois, and also lettered in football (WR)
- According to his 1974 Topps card and an LA Times article, Kingman hit 4 HR and threw a 2-hitter in his final HS game.
- Though he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots (1967), and California Angels (2nd Round, 1968), Kingman declined to sign and instead opted to go to Harper Junior college
- He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles (phase 2 Draft, 1968) but again declined and instead accepted a scholarship to play at USC
- At USC he went 11-4 as a pitcher in 1969, and was then converted to outfielder in 1970 to take advantage of his hitting ability. He was an All-American in ’70 as USC won the National Championship
- In his only full minor league season, 1971, he hit 26 HR with 99 RBI in just 105 games with Phoenix
- In his second game after being called up to the Giants, on July 31, 1971, he recorded his first hit, an RBI double, and in his next at-bat blasted a grand slam homer off the Pirates’ Dave Guisti in a 15-11 win. The next day he hit two home runs off Dock Ellis in an 8-3 win
- He hit a game-winning HR against Dave Roberts of the Padres in the last game of the season to clinch the NL West title for the Giants
- As a rookie he batted 5th and started in RF over All-Star Bobby Bonds in the first two games of the NLCS. Overall he hit just .111 (1-9) in the Series, which San Francisco lost in 4 games to the Pirates
- He hit for the cycle against the Astros on April 16, 1972
- The pitcher he faced most in his career was Steve Carlton. In 112 plate appearances against Carlton, Dave hit .258 – his 8 HR, 25 RBI, 13 walks and 36 strikeouts were all his personal highest against any pitcher
- Loved hitting against: Dock Ellis (.440, 11-25, 4 HR, 7 RBI), Dave Roberts (.391, 18-46, 6 HR, 17 RBI), Ray Burris (.303, 20-66, 6 HR, 20 RBI)
- Hated hitting against: John Candelaria (.185 12-65, 3 HR, 20Ks), Larry Dierker (.071, 2-28, 0 HR, 16Ks), Bob Knepper (.143, 6-42, 3 HR, 19 Ks)
- He hit .270 over 167 lifetime plate appearances with the bases loaded, including 16 grand slam home runs
- Dave hit 40 HR vs the Phillies, 37 vs the Pirates, and 35 vs the Braves. His highest batting average against any team was the .303 he hit in 75 games against the Mets (including 23 HR)
- In 1977, he became the only player to hit a home run for a team in four different divisions in the same year: Mets (NL East), Padres (NL West), Angels (AL West), and Yankees (AL East), and also became the only player to homer with both the New York Mets and the New York Yankees in the same season.
- He was the 1984 AL Comeback Player of the Year, rebounding from a miserable .198, 13 HR season in 100 games with the Mets to hit .268 with 35 HR and a career-high 118 RBI for the Oakland A’s
- He holds the record for most home runs by a player in his final season (35 in 1986 for Oakland)
- His 442 lifetime home runs rank 40th on the all-time list, ahead of notable power hitters Frank Howard, Jim Rice, Duke Snider, Dale Murphy, Mike Piazza, Al Kaline, Tony Perez, Ralph Kiner, and Billy Williams
- His 1,816 strikeouts rank 15th all-time
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Joe Gersbeck is a baseball historian and lifetime fan/student of the game who lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons. His new book, 1970s All-Star Baseball: A History of the Decade’s All-Star Games was just released on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1979683743
His bestselling 1970s Baseball: A History and Analysis of the Decade’s Best Seasons, Teams, and Players is available on Amazon, B&N, and iBooks:
http://www.amzn.com/1499179464
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O44DEOC/
That he struck out swinging on a slow pitch celebrity softball game at Wrigley to end the game with the tying and wining run on base! Nothing new for those watched him play here in Chicago. He hit many homers when the Cubs were leading by a touchdown or two!
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i HEARD A STORY WHERE AFTER A NIGHT GAME WHEN HE WAS A MET,HE AND A YOUNG LADY CAME IN A BAR FOR A NIGHTCAP. AFTER ABOUT A HALF HOUR OF MET FANS RAZZING HIM THEY LEFT. KINGMAN CAME BACK TO THE BAR 30MIN. LATER, ONE OF THE PATRONS STOOD UP AND YELLED “LOOK,KINGMAN STRUCK OUT AGAIN.”…true story
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I heard he hit a ball in the astro dome and never came down, aground rule bouble.
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In 1977, or ’78, or ’79, wasn’t Dave Kingman THE FIRST to hit MORE THAN 40 Homers in a season (at 42?)
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Greg i think The Babe did too.
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What about the Rat incident?
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Kingman should be in the hall of fame.
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What do you think of Kingman’s performance?
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Little known fact, on May 25, 1984, Dave Kingman blasts a grand slam that would beat the Yankees, bottom of 8th inning, here’s the fact: that blast won a lady in the crowd a car for the five away inning!
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Strikeouts did him in, but in today’s MLB, he would have flourished
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