The nickname was given to Dave Kingman when he was with the Mets, and for most of his career his teammates called him "Kong," but he was also called "Sky King" and "Sky Kong."

Kingman is one of only three players to have more strikeouts than hits for his entire career (minimum 1000 at bats). He was also known as a grade-A jerk who sent a dead rat to a sportswriter, doused another in a tub of ice water, and was hated by his teammates. The reporter he doused with a bucket of ice water (Daily Herald's Dan Friske) wasn't even interviewing him, he was interviewing the newly acquired Lenny Randle. Kingman said "This will give you stories for two days!" He later said he was joking. Chicago Sun Times columnist Mike Royko hated Kingman so much he became a White Sox fan during Kingman's years with the Cubs. He called him "Ding Dong."