Phillies remember longtime leader David Montgomery at ballpark ceremony
Montgomery, who died on May 8 after a five-year battle with cancer, was remembered Thursday in a 90-minute ceremony as a champion for Philadelphia who always made his employees feel appreciated and never forgot his humble Roxborough roots.
When Larry Bowa finished his rookie season in 1970, he realized he needed a job for the offseason.
“In the ’70s we didn’t make money like J-Roll or Ryan or Moyer or Thome,” Bowa cracked Thursday afternoon as he looked at the group of former Phillies players who sat behind home plate at Citizens Bank Park for a memorial service for David Montgomery.
The Phillies were moving in the winter of 1970 to South Philadelphia and needed to fill Veterans Stadium, which would open the next season. They told Bowa he could sell season tickets and the starting shortstop accepted a job at the team’s call center.
So did Montgomery, who started that winter as entry-level ticket seller after graduating from Penn before climbing the ranks all the way to team president.
“People that know me, know I don’t have a lot of tact when I get on the phone,” Bowa said. “I’m calling some numbers and within 10, 15 seconds people are hanging up. ‘I’m not coming to watch that. That’s a terrible team.’ I look over at Dave and he’s on the phone for 10, 11, 12 minutes.”
Montgomery, who died on May 8 after a five-year battle with cancer, was remembered Thursday in a 90-minute ceremony as a champion for Philadelphia who always made his employees feel appreciated and never forgot his humble Roxborough roots.
Ed Rendell, who met Montgomery when they were at Penn, remembered being told by Montgomery’s mother how her son - like so many other Philadelphians of that era - would sneak a transistor radio into bed to listen to late-night Phillies games and his favorite player, Richie Ashburn. It must have been a thrill, Rendell said, when Montgomery became Ashburn’s boss.
Rendell, Montgomery, and Mike Stiles would watch those 1960s Phillies teams at Connie Mack Stadium and talk about their future. They debated amongst each other who would have the most success. Rendell became mayor and governor. Stiles was a prosecutor, judge, and U.S. attorney. But it was Montgomery, Rendell said who did it best.
“He was the most successful of all of us,” Rendell said. “Not necessarily because of achievements that outsiders would measure but by the friends that he created and the people who loved him. There’s no doubt about it, David Montgomery was as successful a person that I have ever met.”
Jimmy Rollins noticed early on that Montgomery knew everyone’s name and always smiled. He teased him for coming to work in khaki pants and a polo shirt, asking the president why he was on the golf course while the players were working hard.
“If you knew David and how hard he worked, you knew something like that would get to him,” Rollins said. “When David would get bothered, the pitch would rise. He was like ‘Jimmy, I wasn’t at the golf course. I was working.’ I said ‘David, I don’t know because I wasn’t there but you have on khakis and a polo. I think you’re playing golf, my man. Prove me wrong.’ That went on a number of times and I would always get him. But more importantly I knew that he knew that I knew he worked hard and that I was just messing him and being a little prick just to make him smile.”
Three decades after they were working in the ticket office, Bowa was the Phillies manager and Montgomery was the team president. It was in that time, Bowa said, that he really learned what Montgomery was about. Montgomery set an example, Bowa said, by giving back to the community and the players followed. Montgomery stressed to the players how important charity was and then he and his wife were the first ones to attend their charity events and the last to leave.
“His dedication was like a baseball game,” Bowa said. “There were no time restrictions.”
Their time selling tickets was short. Bowa returned in the spring to shortstop. Montgomery eventually advanced to the executive level. But it was enough for Bowa to see the start of a career that inspired so many.
“I said ‘Dave, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but you’re on the phone for 10 or 11 minutes and I’m 10 or 11 seconds.’ He said ‘Bo, you have to talk a little softer to them and let them know this a young team. All these kids are coming up. We’re going to be good,’” Bowa said. “Well, I didn’t sell as many tickets as Dave but I did sell my share. And I’ll never forget back in 1971 how he helped me out.”