Personal life

Montgomery was born on April 16, 1944, in Nashville, Tennessee. Baseball played a huge role in his family; his father frequently took part in sandlot ball, while his brother Gerald played for several minor league affiliates of the Boston Red Sox. Montgomery attended Nashville's Central High School. Although he actively participated in three sports, he was most inclined to baseball, playing in the oufield, at first base and pitching.

Upon his graduation from high school. Montgomery was signed by George J. Digby, a renowned scout who worked for the Boston Red Sox organization.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Montgomery began his professional baseball career for the Olean Red Sox, a minor league baseball team that were members of the New York-Penn League. Playing both third base and the outfield, he batted .273, enough to earn him a promotion to the Class-A Waterloo Hawks of the Midwest League in the following season. It was here that Montgomery was encouraged by manager Len Okrie to switch positions to catcher, in order to improve his chances of being promoted into the major leagues.

Boston Red Sox (1970-1979)

In 1971, Major League Baseball made it compulsory for all players to wear batting helmets, although active players like Montgomery were allowed to continue batting without one per a grandfather clause. Montgomery opted to utilize this privilege, choosing to strengthen the inside of his cap with protective lining instead. Due to this unique circumstance, Montgomery ended up being the last major league player to bat without wearing a batting helmet when he played his final game on September 9, 1979.

In 387 career games, he compiled a .258 batting average with 23 home runs and 156 runs batted in.

Post-playing career

After his playing career, Montgomery spent fourteen seasons (1982 through 1995) as the color commentator for Red Sox telecasts on WSBK-TV. Montgomery now owns and operates Big League Promotions which manufactures game boards using professional sports licensing. He has also served as a color analyst for telecasts of the minor-league Pawtucket Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on NESN and Cox Sports.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]