Player with most HR's in his last Major League season

[leagueleader]

Not Babe Ruth he only had 6

[Zito75]

Not Babe Ruth he only had 6

Is it Dave Kingman? The question has me a bit confused, so just taking a stab.

[Herr28]

Yeah, Dave Kingman in 1986 is my vote. He hit 35 that year. I always wished he could have stuck around for 1987.

[leagueleader]

Kingman is the guy!

[Macker]

He broke Ted Williams' record of 29 in 1960.

[leagueleader]

He broke Ted Williams' record of 29 in 1960.

Yes, Williams and McGuire are tied for 2nd in this category both with 29!

[brett]

Yeah, Dave Kingman in 1986 is my vote. He hit 35 that year. I always wished he could have stuck around for 1987.

The only hall of fame points that I ever gave to Kingman was that he retired before he polluted the 500 home run club.

But he probably was forced out. And by the way, its not so pure anymore.

[Herr28]

The only hall of fame points that I ever gave to Kingman was that he retired before he polluted the 500 home run club.

But he probably was forced out. And by the way, its not so pure anymore.

"Back in the day," I didn't know the real extent of the owners' colluding against free agents and all that back in the mid-80s, but I thought that perhaps they did agree to snub Kingman for that very reason. It sounds childish, which would fit my pre- to early-teen mind back then, but I really thought that owners would care about the Hall of Fame and any type of standards for the 500 home run club. Ridiculous, I know. Things were much simpler at that age, though.

Of course, Kingman had a good run of 30 homer seasons at the end (35, 30, 35 with the A's from 1984-1986), but all I saw on his Topps cards was the low batting averages. I think that 1987 card of Kingman showed a .210 BA to go along with those 35 HRs. I'm sure his OBP was pretty pathetic, too, certainly sub-.300. At that time, I just thought that the former big time home run king-type sluggers, Kingman and Stormin' Gorman Thomas, couldn't get jobs for 1987 because they had bad batting averages. Bob Horner had to go to Japan, and miss out on the home run parade the year after he had his 4-home run game for the Braves.

I don't know if the aging sluggers who couldn't do much more than pop the very occasional home run (Thomas, Kingman, etc) could find a job because of their declining skills, attitudes/clubhouse issues, collusion, youth movements (the A's had some fine young sluggers coming up in Mark McGwire and Rob Nelson), or if it was simply a combination of all of the above. However, when I was 12 or 13 years old, the whole matter could be decided quite easily.

[Zito75]

Yeah, Dave Kingman in 1986 is my vote. He hit 35 that year. I always wished he could have stuck around for 1987.

I saw him and Canseco take the Mariner's deep in the same game back in that '86 season. I think that had a strong influence on me becoming a huge A's fan. Then again when it's the 2nd game I ever attended in person, you might be impressionable at 12 years old.

[Herr28]

I saw him and Canseco take the Mariner's deep in the same game back in that '86 season. I think that had a strong influence on me becoming a huge A's fan. Then again when it's the 2nd game I ever attended in person, you might be impressionable at 12 years old.

I was a big Curt Young fan back then, and I think he was the ace of the A's staff for a couple years. I know he was their Opening Day starter in 1987, when Rob Nelson got the nod at 1B over Mark McGwire - the two young power-hitting studs they had coming up to win that 1B job! Joaquin Andujar, crazy but will always have a special place in my memory and heart, had his last somewhat effective year as a starter for the A's in 1986, won 12 I think. Tony LaRussa was hired mid-season or so and helped to fire that team up to make a run. I think they went from last to 3rd in the West after LaRussa and his men got there. Bruce Bochte was the first baseman in '86, and he was always a guy I liked back then.

Dwayne Murphy, Mike Davis, Jose Canseco in the outfield and Kingman at DH. Then, after Kingman was gone, they brought back Reggie Jackson for his swan song in '87. The only game I got to watch with the A's playing and Jackson batting, I remember he got hit in the back with a pitch. My friend and I (he was 13 and I was 11 then) were sorting through our wood-bordered 1987 Topps cards, preparing to begin trading with the A's game on the small black and white tube in his room. Dave Stewart was making his nice comeback, well I guess he was really launching his career after being a bum starter, long reliever, bullpen type in LA and Philly (Texas too?).

I can't remember if Bob Welch (R.I.P.) came over in '87 or '88? Eck was pissed to be put in the 'pen, and complained about it all year but really took off in '88. Mickey Tettleton went to the Orioles, eventually, when it was clear Terry Steinbach was going to be the catcher. Was it '88 or '87 when Mickey went to the O's? Moose Haas was on a hot start in '86 I think, he eventually went 7-2 but got hurt after his hot start. Chris Codiroli was up and down, I had a bunch of his cards from the mid-80s. Bill Krueger never panned out, looked like a good big lefty coming up from what I remember.

[Brownieand45sfan]

Whoever it was it was not the Cardinals' Bob Horner. One of the severe disappointments from my youth. He was supposed to come in in 1988 and give Whitey Herzog's jackrabbits some power after losing Jack Clark. But he hit only 3 HRs in 247 PAs. (He had hit 27 each of the previous two years eith ATL). He was only 30 yo. and out of baseball by June 18th (though he tried to get on with the O's the following spring).