Former major league catcher Darren Daulton, who helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1993 National League pennant, died Sunday after a four-year battle with brain cancer. The three-time all-star was 55.
Daulton initially was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in July 2013 after having surgery to remove two tumors in his brain. During spring training in 2015, he announced that doctors told him he was cancer-free, but the cancer returned and Daulton’s condition took a turn for the worse last month.
Daulton, who was born in Arkansas City, Kansas, was drafted by the Phillies in the 25th round of the 1980 MLB amateur draft. He played all but the final 52 games of his 14-year major league career with the Phillies before retiring after the 1997 season. That year, he won a World Series as a member of the Florida Marlins, who acquired him before the trade deadline.
Nicknamed “Dutch,” Daulton will be better remembered for his time in Philadelphia. In 1993, he hit .257 with 24 home runs and 105 RBI in 1993, as the Phillies advanced to the World Series, where they were defeated by the Blue Jays in six games.
Daulton began co-hosting a radio show on Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic in 2010 and established the Darren Daulton Foundation in 2011. Two years later, following his cancer diagnosis, his foundation’s mission became to provide financial assistance to those who suffer from brain cancer and brain tumors.