Jeffrey Thomas Montgomery (born January 7, 1962) is a former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...
. During a 13-year baseball career, he pitched from 1987–1999, primarily for the
Kansas City Royals.
Professional career
Montgomery played collegiate baseball at
Marshall University
Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States.
The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...
. He was drafted by the
Cincinnati Reds in the 9th round of the
1983 MLB draft
First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.
''*'' Did not sign
Compensation picks
Other notable players
*Bill Swift, 2nd round, 29th overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not ...
. He made his debut with the Reds on August 1, 1987, at age 25. He pitched a total of 14 games, including one start. He was considered a marginal prospect, and the Reds traded Montgomery to the Royals on February 15, 1988, for
Van Snider, an outfielder who would go on to only play 19 games in the majors.
Kansas City installed Montgomery in the bullpen, and he appeared in 45 games, posting a record of 7–2 with a 3.45
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
(ERA). In 1989, he had a breakout season, winning seven games and losing three with 18
saves, and posting a 1.37 ERA while acting primarily as a set-up man for
Steve Farr. The following season, he became the Royals'
closer, a role he held for most of his career.
On April 29, 1990, Montgomery struck out all three batters on nine total pitches in the eighth inning of a 5–2 win over the Texas Rangers; he became the ninth American League pitcher and the 23rd pitcher in major-league history to accomplish an
immaculate inning
In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat. An immaculate inning occurs when a pitcher strikes out all three batters he faces in one inning, using the minimum possible number of pitche ...
.
In 1993, Montgomery saved 45 games, tying
Dan Quisenberry
Daniel Raymond "Quiz" Quisenberry (; February 7, 1953 – September 30, 1998) was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Kansas City Royals. Notable for his submarine-style pitching delivery ...
for the Royals' team record and tying him for the league lead with
Duane Ward Duane may refer to:
* Duane (given name)
* Duane (surname)
* Duane, New York, a US town
* the title character of ''Duane Hopwood'', a 2005 film featured in the Sundance Film Festival
* Duane Adelier, a main character of ''Unsounded'', a 2012 fantas ...
of the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
. That year he won the American League
Rolaids Relief Man Award
The Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from 1976 to 2012 to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL).
Relief pitchers enter t ...
. Montgomery was also an All-Star in 1992, 1993, and 1996.
In 1998, Montgomery collected 36 saves and was named Kansas City Royals Pitcher of the Year following the season. Montgomery lost effectiveness during the 1999 season, which he finished with 12 saves and a 6.84 ERA. He retired following the season, and was inducted into the Royals' Hall of Fame in 2003, his first year of eligibility.
Personal
Following his career, Montgomery appeared in an instructional video titled ''The Fundamentals of Pitching with Jeff Montgomery.''
Montgomery is involved in many business interests, among them serving as a Vice-President of Union Broadcasting in
Kansas City, Missouri. He often contributes his baseball analysis to Union Broadcasting's sports wing, 810 WHB. Jeff lives with his wife Tina and four children. He has two daughters, Ashleigh and Kathryn and two sons, Connor and Spencer.
[Dick Kaegel (January 2, 2005)]
Montgomery honored by candidacy
mlb.com. Accessed 2010-01-14.
In 2010, Montgomery was hired by
Fox Sports Kansas City
Bally Sports Kansas City (BSKC) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts coverage of professional, collegiate, and high school sports events both w ...
, where he serves as an analyst on the ''Royals Live'' pregame show and in the broadcast booth on select game telecasts.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Jeff
1962 births
Living people
American League All-Stars
American League saves champions
Baseball players from Ohio
Billings Mustangs players
Cincinnati Reds players
Denver Zephyrs players
Kansas City Royals announcers
Kansas City Royals players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Marshall Thundering Herd baseball players
Nashville Sounds players
Omaha Royals players
People from Wellston, Ohio
Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players
Vermont Reds players
Wichita Wranglers players
Omaha Golden Spikes players