Dale Murphy picked up the phone on the second ring. He said he was just hanging around the farmhouse in Grantville, Ga., trying to decide which home repair project appealed to him the most. It was not an easy decision.
"Nancy made a list," he said, "and I'd say it's about two feet long."Fifteen big league seasons add up in more ways than one.
Until a little less than three weeks ago, Murphy had never been home much in the summers. And when he was home he needed his rest because he worked nights. But now, at the age of 37, he is an unrestricted free agent in every respect, available for utility duty as he - and his wife - see fit.
"I'm not sure where to start," he said. "So far I've gone fishing, played a little golf, and we've gone to the kids' Little League games."
Easing into retirement, in other words.
"The transition (from baseball) hasn't been bad at all," he said. "I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be, getting to do some things I've never been able to do. Nancy is expecting our eighth child at the end of October and there are plenty of things to do. We're going on a vacation in a couple of weeks. We've never been on a summer vacation. We're looking at going to the beach.
"It's not like I didn't have time to get prepared for the end," said Murphy. "I only played 17 games last year. I was hurt a lot. I had three operations. A lot of rehab. I had plenty of time to get used to the idea.
"I'm happy I was able to accomplish the things that I did. I never thought I'd do that much."
The end came abruptly three weeks ago when the Colorado Rockies realized they weren't going to win the pennant and they might as well train their new guys as play a number of veterans not likely to discover the Fountain of Youth.
Characteristic of a career that included seven trips to the All-Star Game and back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards in 1982 and 1983, Murphy accepted the news with class and without controversy. The only downer was that he retired two home runs short of the 400 plateau. His 398 career home runs place him 27th on baseball's all-time list, which is lofty enough - but, still, 400 had a certain symmetry about it.
"I really wanted to hit 400, but I haven't thought much about it since I left," said Murphy, who added 1,266 RBIs in his 15 big league seasons while posting a career batting average of .265. "I can't complain. I can remember 30 or 40 pitches I should have hit out that I didn't - a year. I had my chances."
Murphy concedes there was a bit of bad luck when a rain delay one year in Atlanta washed out a home run that otherwise would have counted. "It was off Syd Fernandez. I can remember that one," he said. "But I can't remember another one, so I'd still be one short."
Statistics and records were never that important to him anyway, as exemplified during the height of his career when he played in more than 700 consecutive games and was legitimately chasing Lou Gehrig's ironman streak. Murphy went to his manager in Atlanta, Chuck Tanner, and asked for a day off - to take pressure off himself and, more importantly, his team.
"That was my decision," he said. "Something like that can become a distraction if you let it, and you need to realize that the most important thing is the team. Sometimes you're not helping the team if you don't mentally and physically give yourself a break."
Three weeks ago, he retired with the same basic philosophy. Ever since, he has been giving himself a break. Whatever he does with the rest of his life, he's not about to do it in a rush.
"We moved into this farmhouse in December," he said. "We're just starting to enjoy it."
That includes looking out the front window and admiring the cattle grazing in the pasture.
"But they're not mine," said Murphy, sounding triumphant. "We leased the land to some cattle ranchers who take care of the cows.
"I can look out and see the cattle," he said. "And all I have to do is collect the rent."
That, and go to the beach. Done properly, retirement - even from baseball - is not without its advantages.