Dave Montgomery was pure Philly.
And pure Phillies.
He joined the team right out of college. Started at the bottom and worked his way up to the pinnacle of the front office.
Montgomery, the longtime Phillies chairman, lost his battle with cancer Wednesday. He was 72.
Montgomery was a throwback to a time when the relationship between teams, their fans - and their city - was more like family than the corporate atmosphere that invades so many front offices these days in sports.
'Monty' had a reputation for treating the Phillies like family.
And that wasn't reserved for his superstar players.
Montgomery was renowned for knowing the names of everyone - from the folks who manned the concessions stands to ushers.
Montgomery would know. He started fresh out of college in the ticket office.
One person who saw that side of Montgomery was his lifelong friend Bob McMahon, mayor of Media. McMahon met Montgomery when he was just back from a stint in Vietnam and went to buy season tickets.
Their friendship spanned nearly five decades. It included World Series teams - and some lackluster clubs.
Montgomery took it all in stride, and treated everyone the same.
"You couldn't get a better guy."
And you couldn't find a better representative of Philly's special relationship with its sports teams.
You can read about Montgomery here.
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