TTM Stats
- Sent: 6/16/2018 | Received: 6/25/2018 | 9 Days
- ’80 Topps
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
Bob “Monty” Montgomery played for the Boston Red Sox from 1970 to 1979. He played catcher and batted and threw right-handed. But if you know the Red Sox of the 70’s you know that he wouldn’t have played that much catcher since he was back up to Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk.
Montgomery was born and raised in Nashville, TN. He played a lot of sports in school, but baseball was a big part of his family. His father played sandlot ball and his brother was part of the Red Sox minor league system. Bob was signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1962. He played with a bunch of their minor league teams and actually started out as a third baseman and outfielder. One of his manager convinced him that he would have a better chance of making it as a catcher. It turn out well and in 1970 he was finally promoted to big club.
His major league playing career isn’t anything of particular note. He only appeared in more than half a season’s games once in 1974 when he played 88 games. That year he hit .287 with four homers and 38 RBI. But besides his stats there is something different about Monty. He is the last player to not wear a batting helmet. In 1971 the MLB made helmets mandatory, but anyone who hadn’t warn a batting helmet and played in the majors already had the right to not wear one. Montgomery chose to pad his cap instead and played his whole career without using a helmet at the plate. He was the last player to not wear a helmet in his final game on September 9, 1979.
The Score on Bob Montgomery – 6.5
This is such a great card when you know Bob’s story. First, he’s waiting to bat and you can see he doesn’t have a helmet. This would have been a 1979 picture from his last year and he didn’t actually play in 1980. Second, he looks like he is a player from the 60’s and not the 70’s so knowing that he never wore a helmet adds to that. I love that Bob has a nice and large signature. I wonder if I can find more cards of Bob’s because I would love to see it on something other than a card from a year when he didn’t play.
Thanks Mr. Montgomery! I’m giving this one a 6.5.
>>> READ MORE ABOUT MY AUTOGRAPH SCORING SYSTEM <<<
Thanks for visiting BravestarrCards.com: Card Collecting and TTM Autographs.
Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.