Teammates saw catcher Daulton as ultimate leader
Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tommy Greene can still picture the days he spent with Darren Daulton in the trainer’s room after games.
Those hours between the batterymates, sometimes lasting until 3 a.m., typically featured Daulton teaching Greene about the game of baseball. Greene was in charge of bringing Daulton a “cold refreshment.”
Daulton’s presence commanded attention, regardless of the situation.
Over his 14-year career as the franchise’s longest-tenured catcher, that often came in the Phillies clubhouse, where he held together a motley crew with plenty of hot tempers en route to leading them to a 1993 World Series appearance.
He battled through five knee surgeries to become a threetime All-Star and beloved fan favorite with his big smile and Hollywood looks.
Daulton died Sunday at 55. Known as Dutch, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in July 2013.
“He was a man’s man and a lady’s dream,” Greene said. “That’s what you hear all the time. He had an uncanny ability to know his guys and know the athletes on his team. ... He wasn’t a yeller or a screamer. He knew how to get your attention.”
“When he walked in a room, or on the field, he commanded it,” former reliever Mitch Williams added. “And let’s be honest, women loved Dutch. I think that a lot of baby boys were named after him, either Darren or Daulton, just to have a piece of him.”
Amid the outpouring of support from ex-teammates, one characteristic resonated through the sadness: Daulton’s leadership on and off the field.
“In my 22 years of baseball, I have never been privileged enough to be around a man who led anywhere near as well as Dutch did,” former pitcher Curt Schilling said. “He was perfect in that role in every sense of the word.”
Added former outfielder Milt Thompson, “He treated everybody the same. ... He was infectious. He just grew on you. He just walked around with confidence, and he built everyone up.”
Phillies chairman David Montgomery spoke on the phone with former general manager Lee Thomas as he drove to Citizens Bank Park on Monday morning, both reminiscing about how Daulton wasn’t a born leader.
Rather, the 25th-round draft pick was anointed to the role by Lee and Jim Fregosi when Fregosi took over as manager in 1991. And Daulton, armed with an innate ability to stay calm, thrived.
“He assumed and took the challenge not just of being a catcher — a natural position in so much was demanded of you — and being told, ‘That’s your clubhouse,’ ” Montgomery said. “That’s an amazing thing.”
Ex-outfielder Lenny Dykstra referred to Daulton as the guy who always steadied the ship.
“I played with several tough dudes in my career, but Dutch was the toughest,” Dykstra said. “He was the unquestionable leader of our magical 1993 Phillies team that went from last to first, thereby energizing the city of Philadelphia. His unrelenting toughness had a dramatic effect on the mind-set with which we all played.”
Daulton played in more than 1,100 games with the Phillies, recording a .245 average with 137 home runs and 588 RBI. His 965 games at catcher are fifth most in franchise history. In his final season in the majors, Daulton won a World Series title with the Florida Marlins in 1997 after a July trade from Philadelphia.
“He was superhuman to me,” Williams said. “With two bags of ice on both knees before every game, he set the tone for us players that year and probably for the rest of our careers. It’s pretty hard to go in and ask for a day off with a guy like that in the locker room.”