Dave Kingman was the epitome of a power hitter; low average, many strikeouts, and a whole lot of home runs.
Kingman was quite the low risk, high reward signing when the Mets bought his contract from the San Francisco Giants in late February of 1975. Over three full seasons in the bay area, Kingman hit 77 home runs, but only hit .224 and averaged 129 strikeouts.
His fielding was also subpar. Kingman played 60 games at third base in 1973, and made 18 errors during that time. He transitioned to playing a majority first base in 1974, but still made 13 errors in 91 games.
The Giants decided to cut their losses and put Kingman up for sale, and the Mets bought him for $150,000. He initially began playing third base for New York, but after making three errors in 12 games, the team moved him to the outfield, where he found more success.
Once he was moved to the outfield, Kingman was able to harness his focus at the plate, and his power numbers exploded. After hitting .246 in the opening month of the season, and an even worse .156 in the month of May, he exploded over the summer. In July, he hit 13 home runs, knocked in 31 RBIs, and slashed .322/.366/.686.
By the end of the season, he had broken the teams franchise home run record, smashing 36 taters, good for second in the league in that category. He led the Mets in home runs, strikeouts, slugging, and stolen bases (surprise surprise), and was second in RBIs.
His power numbers in the opening months of 1976 were ridiculous. In March/April, he hit nine home runs and slugged .583. In May, he added eight more bombs, and slugged .528. He then continued the rampage in June, homering 10 more times and increasing his slugging percentage from the previous month to .546.
On June 4, Kingman had one of his greatest games as a Met, as the team faced off against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. In the 11-0 rout on the road, he smashed three home runs, knocking in eight RBIs, which broke the franchise record for most RBIs in a single game, a mark that was not broken until 2008.
By mid-July, Kingman had slugged 32 home runs and had 72 RBIs, on pace for the best season of his career. He was elected to start in right field in the 1976 All-Star Game. However on July 19th, in a game against the Braves, he injured his left thumb trying to make a catch in left field, tearing a ligament and sidelining him for seven weeks. When he came back, he was not the same hitter he was earlier in the year.
Kingman ended up re-breaking his own record by the end of 1976 with 37 home runs, but still, his season was quite underwhelming. The guy was hitting an average of one home run every 12.2 at-bats through July 19, a pace that would’ve put him over the top of his 1979 season with the Cubs when he hit 48 homers.
The Mets of 1977 started the season off horribly, losing 21 games in the month of May. By mid-June, it was obvious they were not going to make any run at the playoffs, and a rebuild was necessary. On June 15, the Mets traded Kingman away to the San Diego Padres as a part of the “Midnight Massacre”, in which they traded away Kingman, Tom Seaver, and Mike Phillips to different teams on the same night.
Kingman did return to the Mets in 1981, tying his own team home run record with 37 in 1982. However, his average and on-base percentage slumped, and he put up a negative WAR season for the first time in his career. After a 1983 campaign in which he slashed .198/.265/.383, he was released from the team.
