Page 206 - 1975 BoSox

NASHVILLE NATIVE AND RED Sox catcher Bob Montgomery was born Robert Edward Montgomery
on April 16, 1944. He played his entire career with one major-league team — the Boston Red Sox — a career that encompassed the 1970s, from his debut on September 6, 1970, to his final game on September 9, 1979.
Monty took a while to make the majors, initially signing as an amateur free agent with the Red Sox on June 9, 1962. Baseball ran in the family. His father played sandlot ball and was apparently pretty good. Bob’s younger brother, Gerald, was also in the Red Sox farm system for a while as a pitcher. Bob himself played several sports for Central High School in the Tennessee capital, and was all-state in three sports, but it was always baseball that held the greatest appeal. For Central, he pitched, played rst base, and played out eld. It was only later that he made the move to set up behind the plate.
After high-school graduation, Red Sox scout George Digby got Bob Montgomery’s signature on a contract and the 18-year-old was assigned to the Olean, New York, team in Boston’s farm system. ere he played out eld and third base and batted .273, earning him a step up in the system in 1963. e new year saw Montgomery playing in Waterloo, Iowa, under manager Len Okrie. Monty explained to author Herb Crehan that Okrie suggested he become a catcher. Okrie told him, “If you want to make it
to the majors, you’re going to have to make yourself into a catcher. You don’t have the power to make it at the corner positions in the majors, but you could make it as a catcher.” Monty got in a little backstop work late in ‘63, though Baseball-Reference.com shows him ex- clusively as a third baseman. e follow- ing year he served as the primary catcher
for Waterloo and even made the league’s All-Star team. He told Crehan that he’d found the transition a relatively easy one.
Although it was a long slog to make it to the majors, Monty said he never got discouraged. “I never thought about quitting. I had one goal in mind: to play baseball at the big-league level. I stayed focused on that goal and just moved a little closer every year.”He continued to rise in the system, if slowly, and by 1969 was playing for Triple-A Louisville, the top club in Boston’s system before Pawtucket assumed that honor. Montgomery played in over 100 games and batted a very strong .292. In 1970 Montgomery put in another year at Triple-A (hitting .324 in 131 games, and showing some power with 14 homers), and earned himself a call-up to the big-league club once Louisville’s season was over.
Montgomery made his major-league debut, subbing for catcher Tom Satriano in a game the Sox were losing 6-1 to the Baltimore Orioles. He was called out on strikes in his rst at-bat, but came up again in the Red Sox sixth with Dave McNally on the mound and runners on rst and second and a run in. His single to right eld moved up both Rico Petrocelli and Billy Conigliaro and loaded the bases.Two runs scored on a hit-by-pitch and a sacri ce y, and the score was 6-4. e Red Sox went on to win the game in the bottom of the 11th when reliever Pete Richert loaded the bases and then threw a wild pitch as Billy Conigliaro stood in the batter’s box and Montgomery
waited in the on-deck circle. Monty took over as the regular catcher for the rest of the season.
e rst of his 23 career home runs came a few days later, a September 11 solo homer in the fth inning o future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. Montgomery saw a lot of action in September, playing in 22 games and performing reasonably well
Bob Montgomery
by Bill Nowlin
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