Former New York Mets hero Daniel Murphy playing for independent league team: "I think I’ve got a bit of baseball left in me, and I want to find out"

Daniel Murphy, the New York Mets' 2015 postseason hero, is back playing baseball in the "Big Apple" this spring, three years after he took his last major league at-bat.

However, it's not with the Mets or any other MLB club. Instead, the 38-year-old three-time All-Star infielder is suiting up for the independent Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks.

On the eve of the 2023 Atlantic League season, Murphy told the New York Times why he came out of retirement to give it another go. He said:

"I think I’ve got a bit of baseball left in me, and I want to find out."

However, it's not as a hobby. Daniel Murphy is grinding it out with the Ducks in hopes of catching on with an MLB team this season. Murphy made nearly $80 million over a 12-year big-league career. In the Atlantic League, the maximum salary a player can make is $3,000 a month.

"Baseball is a beautiful game, and it makes people do peculiar things."

Daniel Murphy played seven years for the Mets. He played for the Mets in 2008 and 2009, and then again from 2011-2015.

He gained a cult following among New Yorkers for his postseason offensive fireworks in the 2015 National League playoffs. In the NL Division Series, he hit .333 with three home runs and five RBIs. In the NL Championship Series, he torched the Chicago Cubs to the tune of a .529 average, four home runs, and six RBIs. He was named the NLCS MVP.

His bat went cold in a World Series loss to the Kansas City Royals, as he hit just .150. However, he became a legend for helping propel the Mets to only their second World Series since 1986.

Many New Yorkers were heartbroken when he signed a free-agent contract with the Washington Nationals before the 2016 season.

While injuries allowed him only one season of more than 100 games played after 2017, Murphy retired as a .296 hitter. His final season of just 40 games in 2020 – when he hit .236 – was the only campaign in which he hit under .266 over a 12-year span.

While away, he told the Times that he saw the game with fresh eyes after rewatching Ken Burns' nine-part documentary "Baseball". It renewed his spirit for the game. He said:

"I underestimated just how cool our game was and how cool the guys were who played before me."

Daniel Murphy was NL MVP runner-up in 2016

Daniel Murphy hit .347 with 104 RBI in 2016 with the Washington Nationals

Daniel Murphy was a clutch hitting machine for the majority of his career, but took it to a whole other level in 2016. In his first year since leaving the Mets, Murphy finished second in the NL MVP voting after hitting a career-best .347 with 104 RBI with the Nationals. He led the NL with 47 doubles, a .595 slugging percentage and a .985 OPS.