100 Greatest Phillies: 37 – Darren Daulton

Darren Daulton
Catcher
1983-1997

Career w/Phillies: .244 AVG / 134 HR / 567 RBI / 48 SB

During that treasured 1980 season, the Phillies drafted some kid in the 25th round by the name of Darren Daulton. Slowly but steadily, Daulton made the big club, appearing first during the 1983 season. The catcher came back in 1985, got a little more playing time in 1986, a little more playing time in 1987, a little more playing time in 1988, then finally, the starting job in 1989. He would become a big hitter in the Phillies lineup, hitting 27 home runs in 1992 and 24 homers in 1993, his two most complete seasons. Despite missing a lot of time to injuries, “Dutch” always displayed huge power and had the ability to hit .300, reaching that mark in the strike-shortened 1994 season, which was shaping up to be his best year. He had a good but injury-plagued season in ’95, then missed almost all of 1996. He came back as an outfielder in 1997, but was traded to the Marlins so he could try to win his first world championship. He did. Then he retired. Then became utterly weird.

Comment: If only he was a healthier player. Or, if only he got more time when younger. Whatever the case, Daulton had the look, potential and talent of one of the greatest catchers ever. Instead, he remains an integral part of the 1993 NL Championship team and a wonderful source of what-if queries. For the time he played, Daulton was a very big-hitting player with fine pitch-handling and defensive skills. A leader to boot.

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Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.

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