The Philadelphia Phillies selected Darren Daulton in the 25th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. On September 25, 1983, Daulton made his major league debut for the Phillies. He received three at bats for the Phillies in 1983. Through 1988, Daulton played sparingly, due chiefly to the presence of all-star catchers Ozzie Virgil Jr. and Lance Parrish. Daulton became the Phillies’ full-time catcher in 1989. Through his early career, his primary value to the team was as a defensive catcher, his batting average of .206 through the 1988 season was barely above the Mendoza Line, and he never appeared in as many as 60 games in a single season. His breakout season was 1990, his first as his team’s primary catcher, where he batted .268 with 57 runs batted in (RBIs), which coupled with his skills behind the plate, earned a three-year contract worth $6.75 million. Daulton caught Terry Mulholland’s no-hitter on August 15, 1990.Following a slump in 1991 that saw his batting average fall below .200, Daulton led the National League (NL) in RBIs for 1992 with 109. Daulton also finished in the top 10 in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, home runs, walks, runs created, and extra base hits. Darren Daulton earned his first all-star appearance, the National League Silver Slugger Award, and sixth place in NL MVP voting. Daulton was one of the catalysts of the NL pennant winning 1993 Phillies. Although the Phillies lost the World Series, Daulton was again named an all-star, drove in more than 100 runs for the second consecutive season, and finished seventh in National League MVP voting. Daulton once again finished in the top 10 in on-base percentage, RBIs, walks, and extra base hits. Daulton also finished in the top 10 in times on base and intentional walks.

Knee injuries caught up with Daulton. In 1994, Daulton was hitting .300 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs through 67 games when he was injured. In 1995, he was named to his third all-star team, but he played in only 98 games, and finished the year with just nine home runs. Darren Daulton missed nearly the entire 1996 season due to injury, playing in five games. He became an outfielder due to the injuries in 1997. On July 21, 1997, after 14 years with the organization, the Phillies traded Daulton to the Florida Marlins for Billy McMillon. By this time, Daulton’s knee injuries had forced him to change positions. After playing half of the season in Philadelphia as a left fielder, the Marlins used Daulton as a first baseman and pinch hitter. Daulton hit .263 with 14 home runs, 63 RBI and 68 runs scored in 395 at bats. He batted 7-for-18 in the 1997 World Series, as the Marlins defeated the Cleveland Indians. Darren Daulton announced his retirement after the series. In 14 seasons, Darren Daulton hit .245 with 137 home runs, 588 RBIs and 511 runs scored in 1,161 games played. Bill James ranked Daulton as the 25th greatest catcher of all-time in the 2001 edition of his Historical Baseball Abstract. On August 6, 2010, Daulton was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. On July 1, 2013, Daulton underwent surgery for resection of two brain tumors related to glioblastoma at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. On February 23, 2015, Daulton announced that he was cancer-free. The cancer returned in early 2017, and Darren Daulton died from brain cancer on August 6, 2017, aged 55.