New on Sports Illustrated: Daniel Murphy Retiring From MLB After 12 Seasons

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Murphy delivered in the 2015 postseason for the Mets by homering in six consecutive postseason games during the NLDS and NLCS.

Free-agent first baseman Daniel Murphy is retiring from MLB after 12 seasons.

"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."

Murphy, 35, finished his career as a .296 hitter with 138 home runs and 735 RBI while playing for the Mets (2008-2015), Nationals (2016-18), Cubs (2018) and Rockies (2019-2020). He delivered for the Mets in the 2015 postseason by homering in six consecutive postseason games during the National League Division Series against the Dodgers and Championship Series against the Cubs. Murphy was named NLCS MVP for his heroics.

As a free agent that offseason, the Mets gave Murphy a qualifying offer, which he rejected and later signed a three-year, $37.5 million deal with the Nationals. 

During his stints with Washington, Chicago and Colorado, he tormented his former team, hitting .355 with 10 home runs in 52 games against them.

Last season, Murphy batted only .236 with 16 RBI in 40 games during the shortened campaign. He told SNY that he knew he was ready to retire when the 2020 season ended.

When asked if he considered his career a success, Murphy said: "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.

"It was ours. It was messy. There were beautiful moments. There were lows, there were highs, but I felt like as a family we tried to honor each other, honor those around us, honor Jesus–failing miserably multitudes of times. But it was ours."

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