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SALT LAKE CITY — The experiment is over.
Three-time MLB All-Star Daniel Murphy, who initially retired from baseball after the 2020 season before a surprise comeback attempt this year that took him all the way to the Salt Lake Bees, retired again on Tuesday, according to Minor League Baseball's transaction list.
The 38-year-old infielder joined the Salt Lake Bees in June after signing a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels in June, posting a respectable .295 average with 25 RBIs and .741 OPS in 38 games with the team. He had started his quiet comeback journey with the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League prior to that, hitting .331 with a .861 OPS in 37 games there this year.
Murphy is perhaps best known for his long stint with the New York Mets, especially during the club's postseason run that ended with a loss to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 World Series. He won National League Championship Series MVP honors after homering in six-straight games to lead the team to the World Series.
The following season, he placed second to the Chicago Cubs' Kris Bryant in the MVP race after signing with the Washington Nationals during that offseason.
But injuries hampered Murphy's career from there and he ultimately retired after struggling with the Colorado Rockies in 2020. He told KSL.com in June that he stepped away from the game on his own terms, leaving it before he was told he was finished.
He also explained at the time that his surprise journey back began last fall after watching the Ken Burns 1994 documentary "Baseball." It inspired him to test his ability to hit off a tee again and then face live pitching before his stint with the Ducks and Bees this year.
It's unclear why Jacksonville, Florida native retired a second time; however, he said in June that he wanted to savor every aspect of the game that he fell back in love with again during his time away from it because it meant he was trading time away from his family.
"I want to be enjoying my baseball because it's coming at a higher cost than when I was single," he said. "Now, I'm hopefully able to have a narrow focus for the game, while also being able to take on the responsibility of being a husband and a father."
If this is indeed the end of his professional career, he leaves the game with a .296 lifetime average in 12 major league seasons and a .796 OPS on top of his three All-Star honors.
