Darren Daulton, the longtime former catcher for the Phillies, passed away tonight at the age of 55 after a five-year battle with brain cancer. Renowned as a clubhouse leader in Philadelphia, Daulton played 1109 games and parts of 14 seasons in a Phillies uniform, reaching three All-Star games, twice finishing in the top seven of NL MVP voting and winning a Silver Slugger Award in 1992. He played a particularly big role in the Phillies’ pennant-winning 1993 club, and he ended his career as a champion. After a July 1997 trade to the Marlins, Daulton’s final game was Game 7 of the ’97 World Series, going out on a high note as the Fish won their first title. We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Daulton’s family and loved ones.
Here are some news items from around the game…
- Yunel Escobar left today’s game due to a right intercostal strain, as per an Angels press announcement (Twitter link). The third baseman will undergo an MRI tomorrow to access the damage. Escobar has a .274/.333/.397 slash line and seven homers over 381 PA for the Halos this season, Escobar has already spent some time on the DL this season, missing around 2.5 weeks due to a hamstring strain in May, and he sat out of a couple of recent games due to a sore back.
- The Yankees optioned left-hander Jordan Montgomery to Triple-A after today’s game, as per a team announcement. With Luis Severino, C.C. Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and new acquisitions Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia in the rotation mix, the rookie Montgomery was the obvious odd man out when the Yankees made the move back to a standard five-man starting staff. The 24-year-old southpaw posted a 4.05 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 3.17 K/BB over 115 2/3 IP (21 starts) in his big taste of MLB action, making an excellent case for himself as a future rotation piece in 2018 and beyond.
- Dave Dombrowski has put together a strong record on trades in less than three years running the Red Sox front office, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. Breaking down the 15 trades under Dombrowski’s leadership, Mastrodonato calculates that the president of baseball operations has acquired quite a bit of “trade profit,” as observed by examining the salaries and fWARs of the players who came to Boston in those deals. The numbers are, of course, skewed by the fact that so many of the players dealt away in those trades were prospects who have barely or never played in the big leagues yet, though Chris Sale alone has more fWAR than every traded player combined since the time they were dealt.
Quick correction: played 1161 games in a phillies uniform, had 4188 plate appearances
I was about to say, that’s an absurd amount of games for anybody let alone a catcher.
1109 as a phillie.
First of all, rest in peace, Daulton. Second, I had to do some math. 4188 games is just under 26 years of playing all 162 games. That would be impressive doing that as a 14 year catcher. And lastly, I know nothing.
Darren Daulton and Mitch Williams were my favorite players growing up. I wore the number 10 for 14 years because of Darren Daulton. A star both on and off the field. RIP Dutch, you will be missed.
Really? You guys don’t think Dutch’s passing is worthy of a stand-alone page?
+1
Wasn’t going to comment because I agreed with your statement but now I feel like a ****. This man has clearly touched the lives of many people.
RIP Darren Daulton
Google: darren daulton invisible people
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“When I share my thoughts and experiences with them, I tell them there’s absolutely no way their minds can comprehend what I’m trying to relate,” he says. “My friends are limited to the five senses.”
Daulton isn’t. When he says he’s attuned to Higher Powers, he’s not channeling Bud Selig. “There is no good or bad,” he says, explicating the Dutch Theory of Being. “We’re all the same, but we’re all different. The higher we ascend, the more the same we are.”
At 44, Daulton is not nearly the same guy he was at 24 or even 34. “I didn’t have my first out-of-body experience until I was 35,” he says. Curiously, the epiphany occurred at one of baseball’s holiest shrines — Wrigley Field. “I hit a line-drive just inside the third base line to help win a game,” he recalls. “The strange thing was I didn’t hit that ball. I never hit balls inside the third base line!”
He left the ballpark in tears. “I told my wife, ‘It wasn’t me who swung that bat! It wasn’t me!'” he says. “She thought I was Looney Tunes.”
Brain tumors probably explain most of his odd behaviour.
As sad as it may be for many, Daulton’s death isn’t a “trade rumor,” nor does it have any bearing on the current MLB season. Darren Daulton is the 43rd former major leaguer who has died in 2017, . I didn’t see much of a write-up on this site for any of the previous 42, either.
If you care about baseball, as we all do, it deserves mention. Rumor or not. I am not a Phillies fan, but I respected him and love his kind of gritty player. Who doesn’t want someone like that on any team ?
here here.
agreed completely. show the man some respect.
We always try to handle difficult subjects like this with care, but there’s rarely a clear answer on where to draw lines. We don’t mention the death of every former player, nor could we reasonably do so — let alone run posts for all of them. It’s all debatable, in theory, but really I’m not sure there’s much to be gained from arguing over whether one former player or another is given a standalone post on MLBTR. Obviously, it would never be acceptable to be dismissive or disrespectful, but in this case Mark certainly did not do that.
silly Escobar, you’re not a pitcher
Damn, RIP Dutch. Got the chance to meet him in Phoenixville a few years back, he was about as genuine as one could be. We’ll miss him big time.
Sucks for the innings limit.. Montgomery was quietly oveeachieving expectations but in this day and age when your career high is 152IP including playoffs in minor leagues (last season) and you’re about to shatter it. (Projected 169.2IP regular season)
He was the odd man out. Loved his 111K 35BB in 115.2IP, that was the biggest pleasant surprise for me.
Agreed
Unless you expect the Yankees to make a deep playoff run AND use Montgomery as a top starter for it, I wouldn’t really call ~17 more innings “shattering” his previous high…
I would if you’re counting playoffs. Montgomery’s projected 169.2IP does not include MLB playoffs (should Yankees make it)
He would break his career high in IP by 17 not counting MLB playoffs.
Assuming they make playoffs, that constitutes shattering in my book.
RIP Darren.
RIP Darren Daulton. A team leader for the phils
Harry Kalas said Dutch was the best leader he ever saw. He was the chin checker on that 1993 Phillies team.
RIP Dutch. He was one of my favorites growing up.
Anyone who likes baseball loved that 1993 Phillies team and Dutch Daulton was the backbone of it. It took a lot to handle Nails everyday (and night) and keep things moving straight.
Hope the Krucker has some stories for us.
I’m sure Kruk has lots of stories he can tell. And probably even more that he can’t.
RIP Dutch. That 1997 Marlins team has always attributed the run they made to Darren Daulton, and his leadership in the clubhouse after that trade. He was always a really good dude. Thank you for all you did in influencing me to love this game, and helping bring legitimacy to baseball in Florida, with a World Championship.
I’ve always been a fan of tough catchers….rip
Come on give him his own thread. Don’t have and here are some other news items from around the league.
Apparently, the news of Don Baylor’s passing is more deserving of its own thread than Dutch. Ridiculous.
renegadescoach, I have no horse in this race as I didn’t know both individuals who passed but choosing whether or not to dedicate a thread to someone who passed does sound very subjective.
These mlbtr guys are legends and they know what they’re doing but I really want to hear from them on this issue.