MLB power rankings: Top 30 nicknames of all-time
By John Buhler
25. Dave Kingman: Kong
In recent years, the closest thing we’ve had on a baseball diamond since Dave Kingman was probably Adam Dunn. Two giant dudes that hit a lot of home runs and not much else. Kingman played mostly with the San Francisco Giants, the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs in the 1970s. He made three All-Star Games and led the National League in home runs twice.
While he amassed 442 career home runs over a 16-year big league career with seven clubs, Kingman hit just .236 at the plate. Playing off his last name, cinematography and possibly the rise of video games, Kingman had an all-time nickname of Kong.
He was pretty much King Kong in the Cubs and Mets outfield at 6-foot-6 and long lanky arms. Kingman wasn’t a particularly great fielder, a defensive liability at that. However, he would hit moonshots to Skull Island well over the ivy wall at the Friendly Confines for years.
Dunn had Kingman’s level of power at the plate mostly for the Reds in the 2000s, but he didn’t have a nickname like Kong. Sure, they both would strike out a lot, but nobody thought twice about messing with Kong. He kept the dogs days of summer during some bad years with the Cubs very interesting. That’s for sure.