A’s Fine Kingman $3,500 for Sending Small Rat to Female Sportswriter

Oakland A’s slugger Dave Kingman has been fined $3,500 for sending a small rat to a female sportswriter and will be released if a “similar incident” occurs, the A’s announced Tuesday night.

Kingman had the rodent delivered in a pink box to Susan Fornoff of The Sacramento Bee during the first inning of Monday night’s Oakland-Kansas City game. The rat had a tag that read, “My name is Sue.”

Fornoff said Monday night that Kingman has told her he doesn’t believe women belong in the clubhouse and has harassed her at times since she began covering the team last season for The Bee.

“The club has advised Kingman that if an incident of a similar nature occurs in the future, he will be released immediately without further compensation,” the announcement Tuesday night said.

Kingman, 37, refused to speak to reporters after the game Tuesday night. He wasn’t in the lineup for the game and didn’t play.

“This is very nice, what they’ve done,” Fornoff said. “It doesn’t mean a thing to me. The only thing we want is for him to stop harassing me. There are two ways that would happen. One, if he’s not around anymore. Two, if he decides to stop it.”

Sandy Alderson, the A’s vice president for baseball operations, flew Tuesday to Kansas City. He refused to discuss his conversation with Kingman and refused to define what he meant by “an incident of a similar nature.”

Asked for Kingman’s reaction to the fine, Alderson said: “That’s something you’ll have to discuss with him. He’s aware of our statement. He’s aware of the consequences.”

Kingman has a one-year contract with the A’s worth $600,000.