Former Mets infielder Daniel Murphy retires
Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy after his fourth-inning home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field during Game 4 of the NLDS on Oct. 13, 2015. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Daniel Murphy began his career simply trying to find a position on the Mets. Twelve years later, he’s retiring from the sport with an impressive chunk of the franchise’s history after homering in six straight playoff games during the 2015 World Series run.
Murphy, 35, made the announcement Friday. A 13th-round pick by the Mets in 2005, he’s calling it quits after three All-Star appearances, two Silver Slugger trophies, an NLCS MVP in ’15 and a second-place finish for NL MVP in ’16 (his first post-Mets season). Murphy walks away as a .296 career hitter with 138 home runs and 735 RBIs for the Mets, Nationals, Cubs and Rockies.
"This is a beautiful game and I really just feel humbled and blessed that it let me jump on the ride for a little bit," Murphy told SNY. "It’s beautiful. It can teach you about so many things. And all I can say is, thank you."
The Mets let Murphy walk after his big postseason, but he made them pay after signing a three-year, $37.5 million deal with the Nationals. Murphy wound up hitting .355 with 12 homers, 44 RBIs and a 1.061 OPS in 52 games against the Mets.
Overall, Murphy described his career as a success.
"Yes," he told SNY. "Full stop, yes. The numbers are cool, because it’s a really hard league and I never thought I would get one hit, let alone 1,500.
"I was looking back at the career and I was kind of like, ‘What are my takeaways from it?’ The way I look at it — I look at my wife and our children and I think, it wasn’t the greatest career, but it was ours. There were beautiful moments. There were lows, there were highs."
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
