New York Mets fans of the past decade surely remember the Babe Ruthian effort from second baseman Daniel Murphy during the 2015 postseason, when he became the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in six consecutive playoff games.
In nine games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs across the NLDS and NLCS, Murphy hit an absurd .421/.436/1.026 slash line (1.462 OPS) with seven home runs, 11 RBIs, an 11 runs scored in 39 plate appearances. His performance propelled the Mets to their first World Series since 2000, but they fell in five games to the champion Kansas City Royals.
Murphy, a three-time All Star, finished the 2015 postseason with a .328 batting average, 7 home runs, 11 RBIs and 13 runs scored in 14 games. Despite Murphy’s historic postseason at the plate, the retired 12-year MLB veteran told Heavy.com that his favorite career memory came on the basepaths that 2015 postseason.
“My favorite play all time is when I had the good fortune of going first to third on Lucas Duda’s walk,” Murphy recently told Heavy at the Mets spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The heads-up base running play by Murphy occurred with future Hall of Fame pitcher Zack Greinke on the mound for the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLDS. Murphy advanced from first base to second base on Duda’s walk, and kept running safely to third because the Dodgers had nobody covering the bag given their shift formation against the lefty-hitting Duda.
Murphy’s base running is a reminder of the rare exciting play that’s now been lost from the game with MLB banning infield shifts. Murphy paired his stolen base in Game 5 of the NLDS with a 3-for-4 night at the plate, a home run and two RBIs.
Daniel Murphy: ‘I Hope the Fans Thought I Played Hard’
Murphy’s 2015 campaign was his last of seven seasons for the Mets, as he signed with the Washington Nationals that offseason. He had a career-best season with the Nationals in 2016, finishing second in NL MVP voting by hitting .347 with 25 homers, 104 RBI and a .390 on-base percentage.
Murphy’s Mets career was sometimes marred by blunders in the field and running the bases, but his heads-up steal in Game 5 of the 2015 NLDS was indicative of the player he wants fans to remember him as.
“I didn’t always play well, but I hope that the fans thought I played hard. That I could control,” Murphy told Heavy.
Murphy retired after the 2020 MLB season. He got an itch to play again three years later, making a comeback attempt last year that ended with him reaching Triple-A in the Los Angeles Angels organization. He appeared in 38 games for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, and batted.295/.379/.362 with 1 home run and 25 RBI.
“I think that is exactly where I should have finished, Triple-A is as high as I should have gone,” Murphy told Heavy. “I had a blast.”
Daniel Murphy Shares Another Unforgettable Mets Moment
The Mets recently welcomed Murphy back into the broadcast booth this spring to call a couple spring training games for SNY. He spoke about the atmosphere at Citi Field in the 2015 NLDS and how Mets fans responded to Chase Utley, the Dodgers second baseman who slid into Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada to disrupt a double play. Tejada broke his leg on the play.
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This article was originally published on Heavy.com
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