Sports Media

Daniel Murphy Retires After 12 Year Career in MLB

Adam Krieger / MLB / January 29, 2021

Daniel Murphy Reitres — (Andy Lyons / Today)

Daniel Murphy retires after 12 years in the major leagues playing for the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, and finished his career for the Colorado Rockies.

Murphy was drafted by the Mets in 2006 as a 21 year old out of Jacksonville University. The lefty made his debut in the major leagues in August of 2008 and remained on the Mets roster until signing with the Washington Nationals in the winter of 2015.

Daniel Murphy had two very different life’s it seemed as a member of the Metropolitans. He came to the majors with question marks surrounding his ability to field and play defense. He however, could hit and that kept him in the big leagues long enough for some heroic moments in New York.

Murphy is best known for his postseason home run streak. He homered in 5 consecutive games in 2015 that extended from the NLDS to the NLCS. In that stretch he hit two long balls off of Clayton Kershaw and took Zack Greinke deep when it matter most, game 5 in a tie game.

Murphy’s bat led the Mets to their first World Series appearance since 2000 and brought excitement to Flushing for the first time in Citi Field. That however was not enough for the cheap owners at the time to give him a long term contract extension. The 2014 All-Star from the Mets signed with division rival Washington Nationals for 3 years and 37.5 million.

Murphy played over 140 games in 2016 for the DC team and was voted to his second all star game in 2016 as a member of the Nationals. That year in DC he hit .347 and led the league in doubles with 47. He followed that campaign with another all star season in which he led the league in doubles with 43.

He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2018 where he finished out the three year deal the Mets would not offer him. He signed his final contract the following winter, going to the Rockies on a two year contract worth 24 million.