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SALT LAKE CITY – After taking a few cuts during the team’s batting practice on a warm and sunny Wednesday afternoon, Daniel Murphy paused to admire the view of the mountains rising above Smith Ballpark’s Batter’s Eye.
“It’s beautiful,” says the new Salt Lake Bee infielder, looking out over the ballpark backdrop. “It’s nice to see snow in the middle of summer.”
There’s no way Murphy, now 38, could have imagined standing here in the middle of what he calls “the great sandlot” a year ago. The former three-time MLB All-Star — most famously the MVP for the 2015 National League Championship Series and the catalyst for the New York Mets’ postseason run to the World Series that year — is retiring before the start of the 2021 season.
The soft-spoken forward, who battled all manner of leg injuries early in his professional career, admitted to retiring before any team said his career was over. In 40 games with the Colorado Rockies during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he compiled a .236 average with a .608 OPS, both below his career bests.
He saw the writing on the wall and left on his own accord.
Murphy still watched and enjoyed the game the past two seasons, but he never felt the itch to get back into the game. The Florida native is content to stay at home and help his wife Victoria raise their four children together. That changed the moment he sat down last October and started watching Ken Burns’ 1994 documentary “Baseball.”
The way the greats like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Willie Mays stole the pitch and left the batter’s box was something to think about because of their swing and movement. Dwelling on it more – and reading Christy Mathewson’s century “Pinch Pitching” – only helped him appreciate the game he once played and renew his desire to pick up the bat again.
The idea of returning to baseball grew from there.
“You’re curious about something, and I’ve been very grateful for what baseball has given me and my family. And I can move quickly to explore some of these things,” he said. “My body was moving well, at least in my opinion, to try and catch the at-bats professionally; and if I chose not to do it, it would be out of fear more than anything else – I didn’t want that to happen. That’s the case.”
His challenge, as he put it, started with hitting the ball off the tee again and continued with batting practice and batting, before he wanted to play in the team again.
This helped him return to New York. The Long Island Ducks, a member of the independent Atlantic League and home to several former major league players, were the only club to offer to sign him, something that was finalized in March. The trial proved successful; In 37 games with the club earlier this season, he hit a solid .331 with an .861 OPS.
Murphy’s agents began reaching out to major league clubs to see if anyone was willing to bite.
The Los Angeles Angels, the parent club of the Salt Lake Bees, have been quietly monitoring Murphy’s comeback attempt — so quietly that Angels manager Phil Nevin told reporters on June 13 that Murphy didn’t even know he was playing again until a few weeks later. in the past.
However, with the Angels dealing with several injuries in the outfield, they are starting to run at certain positions, and it is time to look at outfield options. The club signed Murphy to a minor league contract last week and assigned him to the Bees on Tuesday.
“It’s a deep thing. I know he’s been swinging well in the independent leagues,” Nevin said, according to ESPN. “I like them from independent leagues.”
Murphy was surprised at how his comeback attempt at least got him back to affiliate ball, but he was more excited to play in the “quick sandlot” than in the independent leagues. Of course, the ultimate goal is to reach the fastest sand lot – where the Angels play – at some point this season.
He said he knows that’s a decision out of his control and will work to be as productive as he can in Salt Lake.
He added that the main goal of his “volunteer” trip was to re-experience all aspects of the game that he had fallen in love with while away from the game. It’s a different view of the game than he had when he first pitched in the minors 15 years ago, largely because of what he traded to be here, overlooking the snow-capped mountains at Smith Ballpark.
“I want to enjoy my baseball because it’s paying off more than when I was single,” he said. “Now I hope to have a narrow focus on the game, and I can carry the responsibility of being a husband and father.”
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