Fordin: Montgomery nostalgic in discussing Phillies, baseball
From Spencer Fordin at MLB.com on August 1, 2013:
There was life before the Phillies for David Montgomery, but it seems that baseball was always in his blood. Montgomery, the general partner, president and chief executive officer of the Phillies, issued the opening remarks at the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) 43 Convention on Thursday and spoke warmly about his life in the game.
Montgomery, kicking off the annual conference, welcomed out-of-town guests to his city and told the crowd of baseball fanatics that they could just jump in and correct him if he made any mistakes in chronology. But they never had a chance.
Starting in the 1950s and weaving his way to the present day, Montgomery told of being a young Phillies fan who grew up rooting and went on to work for his favorite team. And then he proceeded to tell the audience how the game has changed, both on the field and in the boardrooms.
One of the most striking ways, he said, is how the players prepare in the modern-day game.
“We’re much more into nutrition. It’s not the cheesesteaks and the offerings of Philadelphia night in and night out. We try to do that for the visiting team,” he joked. “The reality is that the whole game preparation has changed. The emphasis is on weight rooms and training facilities, batting cages and video. … All the players now — Chase Utley would be an excellent example on our club — they just can’t get enough of video. They just want to see who they’re facing that night, what’s he throwing? ‘Let me see my last 10 at-bats. Let me see when I had success against him two years ago. How did he get me out last time?’ or whatever. Video rooms are literally within a stone’s throw from the dugout now.”
Read the full article here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130801&content_id=55544910&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Related links:
- Listen to David Montgomery’s opening remarks at SABR 43 in Philadelphia
- For more coverage of SABR 43, visit SABR.org/convention
Originally published: August 1, 2013. Last Updated: April 16, 2020.