Ray Montgomery didn’t wish to get his first managerial job the best way he bought it, promoted to the interim job with the Angels when Ron Washington took a medical go away in June that may final the remainder of the season.
However the Bronxville native and former Fordham standout mentioned he appreciated being again in New York on Monday night time in his new position, managing in opposition to the Mets, his childhood staff.
“Any time you come back home, it’s special,” mentioned Montgomery, who performed in 47 video games as an outfielder and pinch hitter in elements of three seasons with the Astros from 1996-98.
And whereas he’d been to Citi Subject as a coach previous to Monday, his recollections in Queens return rather a lot additional.
He mentioned he went to Shea Stadium as a fan “quite a bit, as much as I could” rising up in Westchester, the place he starred at Archbishop Stepinac Excessive Faculty.
“That window for the Mets, from about 1985-89, was my junior year of high school to my sophomore year at college, and it was great,’’ said Montgomery, 55, before the Mets’ 7-5 win on Monday night. “Watching those teams and those players was always exciting.”
The one draw back, Montgomery mentioned, was that it was rather a lot tougher to get good seats as soon as the staff began successful.
“We used to get seats anywhere we wanted for a decade,” Montgomery mentioned. “That changed pretty fast.”
His play at Fordham resulted in Montgomery turning into a Thirteenth-round choose by the Astros within the 1990 novice draft, and he made his MLB debut in 1996.
“It was a grind,” Montgomery mentioned of his journey to the majors. “I had to work. I wasn’t as talented as some other guys. But I wouldn’t trade any of it.”
It led to scouting jobs with the Brewers and Diamondbacks earlier than Montgomery grew to become the director of participant personnel for the Angels in 2020.
He moved to bench coach a 12 months later and took over for Washington in June.
“This was something that was a goal after I left the front office,” Montgomery mentioned. “But this isn’t the way you want to get it. We’re all just focused on doing our jobs.”
