Adding to my fun 1977 Centennial sub-set today on the blog, we have New York Mets slugger Dave Kingman:
I was always enamored with the guy: his wiffle-ball like swings, his
dour and somewhat aloof disposition, and of course his tape-measure
homers.
Coming off of two seasons of serious home run production for the Mets in 1975
(36) and 1976 (37), he was about to top those numbers when he finally
found himself in a Chicago Cubs uniform in 1978, slugging in the
friendly confines of Wrigley Field after signing with
them as a free agent.
Many Mets fans still hurt from the infamous "Midnight
Massacre" house-cleaning in 1977 which saw the organization trade
Kingman to the Padres, Tom Seaver to the Reds, and Mike Phillips to the
Cardinals, all on June 15th.
In 1979 Kingman would have his finest season as a big leaguer when
he lead the Majors in home runs with 48 round-trippers, a career high,
along with 115 runs batted in and a very respectable .288.
He'd find himself back in Queens as a New York Met by 1981, after
falling out of favor in Chi-Town, and would lead the National League
again in home runs in 1982 when he hit 37, along with a dismal .204
average.
I got to see a lot of him due to his time with the Mets, and me growing
up in New York City (though I was a Yankee fan), and I always though
Kingman was that cool “loner” dude who did things his own way.
Then I really became fascinated by him when he retired after the 1986 season, just after posting his THIRD straight 30+ home run year with the Oakland A’s.
As a kid I could not understand how no one wanted to have a 30+ homer guy back then on their team, even IF he struck out a lot.
I was mesmerized and still am somewhat that the guy’s final year in the Majors produced 35 home runs and 94 RBI’s, only to walk away after being signed as a Free Agent by the San Francisco Giants that never led to anything after some Minor League action.
The enigma that is “Kong”.
Then I really became fascinated by him when he retired after the 1986 season, just after posting his THIRD straight 30+ home run year with the Oakland A’s.
As a kid I could not understand how no one wanted to have a 30+ homer guy back then on their team, even IF he struck out a lot.
I was mesmerized and still am somewhat that the guy’s final year in the Majors produced 35 home runs and 94 RBI’s, only to walk away after being signed as a Free Agent by the San Francisco Giants that never led to anything after some Minor League action.
The enigma that is “Kong”.