Dave Kingman played for which team from 1977 to 1986?
Dave Kingman David Arthur Kingman ( born December 21 , 1948 ) , nicknamed King Kong and Sky King , is a former Major League Baseball left fielder , first baseman , third baseman , and designated hitter who was a 3 time MLB All-Star with 442 career home runs and 1,210 runs batted in ( RBI ) in 16 seasons . In his career , Kingman averaged a home run every 15.11 at bats , tied for 14th best all-time . The 6 6 Kingman was a power hitter , who twice led the National League in home runs . Known for his long home runs , Kingman hit one measured at over 530 feet . Kingman struck out frequently , and posted a low batting average and on-base percentage . His 1,816 strikeouts was the fourth-highest total in MLB history at the time of his retirement . As a result of the increase in frequency of strikeouts in the intervening period , he currently ranks eighteenth as of January 2019 . Kingman finished in the top 25 voting for National League Most Valuable Player four times ( 1972 , 1975 , 1976 , and 1979 ) and American League Most Valuable Player once ( 1984 ) . Upon retiring , Dave Kingman was 16th on the all-time home run list and tied for 4th on the all-time Grand Slam list with 16 ( tied with Aaron and Ruth ) . Early life . Born in Pendleton , Oregon in 1948 , Kingman moved with his family to Denver , Colorado in 1951 , to Los Angeles , California in 1954 and finally to Mount Prospect , Illinois , as Kingmans father worked for United Airlines and moved the family as needed for his career . Kingman attended Prospect High School , where he was a center and a forward on the basketball team , being named All-Area , a wide receiver and safety on the football team , and a star pitcher on the baseball team . Kingman threw a no-hitter against Niles North High School on April 6 , 1967 . In his final high school game , he hit four home runs and pitched a two-hit shutout . Harper College ( 1967 ) /University of Southern California ( 1968-1970 ) . He 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 attend the University of Southern California ( USC ) to play college baseball for the USC Trojans under coach Rod Dedeaux , after a year at Harper Junior College in Palatine , Illinois . Kingman began as a pitcher before being converted to an outfielder . In 1969 , Kingman had a 11–4 win–loss record with a 1.38 earned run average ( ERA ) and batted .250 with four home runs and 16 runs batted in ( RBIs ) as a part-time hitter for USC . In the 1970 USC NCAA Championship Season , Kingman hit .355 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs , exclusively as a hitter , despite missing time mid-season due to injury . In , Kingman was named an All-American and led the Trojans to the College World Series championship , along with teammates , pitchers Steve Busby , Jim Barr and Brent Strom . Kingman was then selected by the San Francisco Giants with the first pick of the secondary phase draft . Professional career . Minor leagues ( 1970-1971 ) . After signing with the Giants , Kingman played for the Class AA Amarillo Giants in 1970 after the College World Series victory . He hit .295 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs in 60 games . Moving to the Class AAA Phoenix Giants in 1971 , he hit .278 with 26 home runs and 99 RBIs in 105 games before being called up by the San Francisco Giants . San Francisco Giants ( 1971-1974 ) . 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 . He hit a home run in his next game , a grand slam , and hit two more a day later . He finished his rookie season with a .278 average with 6 home runs and 24 RBI in 41 games . 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 at third base , 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 in 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 their rights to him to the New York Mets . In four seasons and 409 games with the Giants , Kingman hit .224 with 77 home runs and 217 RBI . New York Mets ( 1975-1977 ) . On February 28 , 1975 , Kingman was purchased by the New York Mets from the San Francisco Giants for $150,000 . Kingman played twelve games at third with the Mets ; however , the Mets eventually abandoned the idea of Kingman as a third baseman and kept him primarily in the outfield . He emerged as a slugger upon his arrival in New York City , setting a club record with 36 home runs in . He also scored 65 runs , the highest percentage of runs scored on homers for anyone that hit more than 30 in a season . A year later , in 1976 , he broke his own record with 37 homers , and was elected to start in right field for the 1976 National League All-Star team . His single season home run record for the Mets stood until 1987 when it was broken by Darryl Strawberry . New York Mets/San Diego Padres/California Angels/New York Yankees - 1977 season . Kingman was batting .209 with nine home runs when he became one of the three players traded in the infamous Midnight Massacre by the New York Mets . On June 15 , , the Mets traded Kingman to the San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher Paul Siebert and Bobby Valentine ; Tom Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Pat Zachry , Doug Flynn , Steve Henderson and Dan Norman ; and Mike Phillips was traded to the St . Louis Cardinals for Joel Youngblood . Kingman was waived by the Padres on September 6 , 1977 , and immediately claimed by the California Angels . On September 15 , Kingman became one of only a handful of players to play for four major league teams in the same season ( and the only one to play in each division in baseball in a single year since the establishment of divisional play in 1969 ) when he was traded by the Angels to the New York Yankees , for Randy Stein and cash . Although Kingmans four home runs and seven RBI in eight games helped propel the Yankees into the post-season over the second place Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles , he could not participate in the teams push to a World Series crown as he was added to the roster after the August 31 cutoff date for postseason eligibility . Overall , Kingman hit .221 with 26 home runs and 78 RBI in 132 games for the four teams in 1977 . Chicago Cubs ( 1978-1980 ) . On November 30 , 1977 , Kingman signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs . He signed a 5-year contract for $240,000 per year . In 1978 , Kingman hit .266 with 28 home runs and 78 RBI in 119 games with the Cubs . Kingman had an excellent performance in Los Angeles on May 14 , , when he again 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 . Following the game , radio reporter Paul Olden asked Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda his opinion of Kingmans performance that day , inspiring an oft-replayed ( and censored ) obscenity-laced tirade . 1979 season/550 foot home run . The best season of Kingmans career came with the Cubs in . Kingman batted .288 with a National League-leading 48 homers , as well as 115 runs batted in ( second to San Diegos Dave Winfields 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 slugging duel with Mike Schmidt on May 17 at Wrigley Field ; Kingman hit three home runs and drove in six while Schmidt hit two in the game , with Schmidt delivering his second in the top of the tenth inning to give the Phillies a 23–22 victory . Kingmans third home run during this game is likely the longest home run of his career , and believed to be the longest in the history of Wrigley Field . There is a street called Kenmore Avenue that Ts 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 . 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 in 1979 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 and led the league in strikeouts for the first time in his career ( 131 ) . In , Kingman ( whose personality former Mets teammate John Stearns had once compared to a tree trunk ) dumped a bucket of ice water on Daily Herald reporter Don Friskes head late in spring training . Kingman regularly insisted he was misquoted , and he began appearing regularly in the Chicago Tribune , as the nominal author of a column ghostwritten by Chicago Park District employee Gerald Pfeiffer . Mike Royko , then writing for the rival Chicago Sun-Times , parodied Kingmans column with a series using the byline Dave Dingdong . The Cubs held a Dave Kingman T-shirt Day promotion in conjunction with its game with the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 7 , but Kingman instead spent the afternoon at Navy Pier promoting Kawasaki Jet Skis at ChicagoFest . Injured , Kingman played in 81 games in 1980 , hitting .278 with 18 home runs and 57 RBI . Overall , in his three seasons with the Cubs , Kingman hit .278 with 94 home runs and 251 RBI and a .907 OPS in 345 games . New York Mets II ( 1981-1983 ) . 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 , , 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 in his second season back in New York . In , he tied his own Mets single-season home run record while hitting .204 , the lowest batting average 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 seasons home run leader , and he drove in 99 runners that season . Kingman led the NL in strike outs both of the first two seasons of his return to the Mets ( 105 in 1981 & 156 in 1982 ) . On June 15 , , the sixth anniversary of the Midnight 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 . In six total seasons with the Mets , Kingman hit .219 with 154 home runs and 389 RBI in 664 games . Oakland Athletics ( 1984-1986 ) . On April 16 , 1984 , Kingman collected his fifth and final 3-homer game , in a 9–6 win over the Seattle Mariners . Kingman made just nine appearances at first base in , and was the As regular designated hitter the remainder of the time . For the 1984 season , Kingman hit .268 with 35 home runs and 118 RBI . He was named the American Leagues Comeback Player of the Year , and finished 13th in MVP balloting . After hitting 30 home runs in 1985 , Kingmans 35 homers in 1986 were a record for a player in his final season , until surpassed by David Ortiz in 2016 . In three seasons as a DH in Oakland , he collected at least 30 home runs and 90 RBIs in each season . He also had two at-bats in this period which did not result in home runs , but nonetheless were noteworthy : in the Metrodome against the Minnesota Twins , on May 4 , 1984 , he hit a pop-up that flew into a hole in the roof and got stuck for a ground rule double . In a game in Seattle on April 11 , , he hit a hard drive to left field which struck a speaker hanging from the roof of the Kingdome , bounced back and was caught for an out . During his final year in Oakland in 1986 , Kingman sent a live rat in a pink box to Sue Fornoff , a sportswriter for The Sacramento Bee . The rat had a tag attached to it that read , My name is Sue . Fornoff claimed that Kingman had told her that women do not belong in the clubhouse , and that he harassed her several times since she began covering the team the year before . Kingman himself said it was intended as a harmless practical joke . The As fined Kingman $3,500 and warned that he would be released if a similar incident occurred again . When Kingmans contract expired the 1986 season , Oakland did not renew his contract and he became a free agent . Oakland signed former A and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson to play his final season as the teams designated hitter for the 1987 season , playing alongside Jose Canseco and rookie Mark McGwire . In three seasons with Oakland , under managers Steve Boros , Jackie Moore , and Tony LaRussa , Kingman hit .230 with 100 home runs and 303 RBI . Overall , in his career , Kingman hit .236 with 442 home runs and 1210 RBI . He had an .302 OB% , a 780 OPS with 608 walks and 1816 strikeouts in 1941 career games . Kingman averaged a home run every 15.11 at bats , tied with Juan González for 14th best all-time . Dave Kingman was awarded over $ 829,000 in damages for collusion by MLB owners against him ( and other MLB players who were free agents ) . Retirement . On July 11 , 1987 , Kingman signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants during the season . After twenty games at AAA Phoenix in which he batted .203 with two home runs and 11 RBI , he retired from baseball . In 1989 , Kingman played for the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association , alongside other former major league players . He hit .271 with 8 HR and 40 RBI , as the Tropics had the best record in the Senior League . The league folded in 1990 . In , his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame , he appeared on just three ballots , excluding him from future Baseball Writers Association of America voting . He was the first player to hit 400 or more home runs without being eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame . Personal . Kingman lives in the Lake Tahoe area . He has three children and operates a local tennis club .