Darren Daulton: A favorite on & off field
he recent passing of Darren Daulton leaves a huge hole in the annals of Philadelphia sports, the likes of which have seldom been seen. Daulton was one of those rare athletes who not only performed effectively, but was a team leader, and was also extremely popular with virtually everyone with whom he came into contact.
Daulton was someone who was very special. During a career in which he spent 14 years with the Phillies (1983, 1985-97), he was one of the finest catchers in the team’s now 135-year history, while spending longer with the Phils than any other backstop, and playing with two pennant-winners (1983, 1993).
“He constantly earned our respect as both a player and a person,” said Phillies chairman David Montgomery. “Darren was the face of our team in the early 1990s.”
Although not drafted until the 25th round in 1980, Daulton became a threetime member of the National League All-Star team. He led the league in RBI in 1992 with 109, becoming only the fourth catcher in big league history to lead the league in RBI (the others were Hall of Famers Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench, and Gary Carter). He followed that with 105 RBI in 1993. He was also an outstanding defensive player who, according to the hurlers he caught, always seemed to call the right pitch.
Throughout most of those years, Daulton was the Phillies’ leader, a tough, but very knowledgable guy who guided his teammates both on and off the field. When a player required special attention, either bad or good, Daulton performed that duty. When the managers under whom he played needed help dealing with the players, they asked him to do the job.
“He was like E. F. Hutton,” former pitcher and current broadcaster Larry Andersen once said. “When he speaks, everybody listens.”
“Dutch,” the nickname given to him as a youngster, was also a fan favorite. Certainly one of the most popular players the team ever had, his personality, talent, and friendliness made him a player with whom the folks in the stands felt a special connection, and, accordingly, showered him with affection. In addition, his movie-star good looks were a major attraction among women fans.
“Personally, I like to play in front of our fans,” Daulton once said in my old newspaper column called Phillies Report. “They’ve brought out the best in me, and I can’t thank them enough.”
Let’s not overlook the fact that during some of his career with the Phillies, Dutch was a Delco guy, too. He lived in several places in the Media area. Of course, it should be pointed out that many other Phillies players in recent decades lived in Delaware County during all or parts of their careers here, among them being Mike Schmidt, Tug McGraw, Von Hayes, Kevin Stocker, Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, and Shane Victorino. I had a special relationship with Daulton, not only because I covered the Phillies’ pennant winners in 1983 and 1993, but in all the other years Dutch played here.
He was always willing to provide interviews, and to answer questions directly and honestly. He once told me that “it was always fun talking to the press.”
Because that special connection continued after his playing days had ended, and because he was one of the key figures in its history, Daulton willingly wrote the foreword for my book, “Veterans Stadium, Field of Memories,” published in 2005. It was a beautifully written piece in which he stated that playing with the Phillies at the Vet “fulfilled a childhood dream.”
One of my best memories of Daulton was his leadership of the highly popular ’93 pennant-winners, a team that went from last the previous season to first. Often called “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves,” a name given to them by Daulton, the team was a collection of highly talented players with unusual personalities
Mickey Morandini, Jim Eisenreich, Kevin Stocker, Terry Mulholland, Tommy Greene, and Larry Anderson were regarded as “good guys” and were among those who were almost always approachable for interviews. Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Mitch Williams, Dave Hollins, and Pete Incaviglia resided together in the back of the clubhouse where they were an unfriendly bunch who rarely spoke to the press, were highly judgmental and in general acted differently from the rest of the team.
That group, portrayed as a “grubby band of rouges” known as “Macho Row,” was governed by Daulton, whose locker stood in the midst of the cabal. Unlike the others in terms of personality, he kept their actions under control and overall provided the leadership that held the team together and made it an agreeable group that performed as a single unit.
“You can’t make yourself a leader,” Kruk once said. “You have to be born with it, and he was born with it. Few players ever had the leadership skills that he did.”
Indeed, Daulton was a true professional who handled the pitching staff and the clubhouse like few players ever have. It should be added that he played in an era when there were few showoffs, and there were no such things as ridiculous pitch counts or the absurdity known as analytics
“The bottom line is to win games,” said Daulton, a very modest guy, who largely because of his devotion to working out, had a physique that appeared to be chiseled out of a block of granite. “That’s what we’re here for and that’s what we strive to do.”
While his career as a player was extremely successful, Dutch was not without his troubles off the field. Especially after he retired from baseball in 1997, he had a variety of problems, which he later dealt with, overcame, and blamed himself for making so many critical mistakes. His victories in these cases again demonstrated his toughness and his ability to take control of the situation.
Daulton battled heroically against the brain cancer that afflicted him during the last four years. He even appeared frequently at some Phillies events. The illness disappeared for a while, but then came back. And with that came his eventual passing a few days ago.
Darren Daulton will always be remembered for his playing ability, his leadership, his popularity, his toughness, and for being a good guy. And because of those talents, he has earned a very special place in Phillies history, and will be sadly missed.