David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong", "King Kong", and "Sky King", is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career home runs and 1,210 runs batted in (RBI) in 16 seasons.

Kingman was born in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1948, and moved with his family to Denver, Colorado, in 1951, then to Los Angeles, California, in 1954, and finally to Mount Prospect, Illinois.

After a year he moved on to the University of Southern California (USC) to play college baseball for the Trojans under coach Rod Dedeaux, and was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the 1968 draft.

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.

[7] In 1970, Kingman was named an All-America and led the Trojans to the College World Series championship, along with teammates, pitchers Steve Busby, Jim Barr and Brent Strom.

He made his major league debut on July 30, 1971, pinch running for Willie McCovey, and finishing the game at first base.

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, 1973.

Although Kingman's 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 team's push to a World Series crown as he was added to the roster after the August 31 cutoff date for postseason eligibility.

Kingman's five-year $1,375,000 contract included a $225,000 annual salary, a $250,000 bonus and an additional $50,000 in any year that the Cubs reached the 1.6 million mark in home attendance.

[13] Kingman had an excellent performance in Los Angeles on May 14, 1978, when he 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.

[23] Following the game, radio reporter Paul Olden asked Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda his opinion of Kingman's performance that day, inspiring an oft-replayed (and censored) obscenity-laced tirade.

In 1980, Kingman (whose personality former Mets teammate John Stearns had once compared to a tree trunk)[28] dumped a bucket of ice water on Daily Herald reporter Don Friske's head late in spring training.

[30] Mike Royko, then writing for the rival Chicago Sun-Times, parodied Kingman's column with a series using the byline "Dave Dingdong.

It was also the first time where the Cy Young award winner (Steve Carlton) had a higher batting average than the home run champion.

On June 15, 1983, 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.

After hitting 30 home runs in 1985, Kingman's 35 homers in 1986 were a record for a player in his final season, which held until surpassed by David Ortiz in 2016.

He also had two at-bats 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, 1985, 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.

[37] 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.

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.

[40] Oakland signed former Athletic and future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson for his final year as the team's designated hitter for the 1987 season to play alongside the new blood in homerun hitting in Jose Canseco and rookie Mark McGwire.

[41] In three seasons with Oakland, under managers Steve Boros, Jackie Moore, and Tony LaRussa, Kingman hit .230 with 100 home runs and 303 RBI.

[10] In 1989, Kingman played for the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, alongside other former major league players.