This day in NY sports history: Sept. 17, 1977

THIS DAY IN NY SPORTS HISTORY

Saturday, Sept. 17, 1977

Kingman homers for fourth team of year

Dave Kingman hit a two-run homer in the third inning off Jim Crawford in the Yankees' 9-4 win over Detroit at Tiger Stadium to become the first player to homer for four different teams in one season. Kingman hit nine homers in 58 games with the Mets. Then he was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Bobby Valentine and Paul Siebert on June 15. He hit 11 homers in 56 games with the Padres before being claimed on waivers by the California Angels on Sept. 6. He hit two homers in 10 games with the Angels before being traded to the Yankees for Randy Stein and cash on Sept. 15. He hit four homers in eight games with the Yankees. He finished the season with 26 homers and 78 runs batted in. He became a free agent after the season and was signed by the Chicago Cubs. Kingman hit 442 home runs in 16 seasons and had a .236 career batting average.