David Montgomery to be honored at Hall of Fame Weekend

For the first time in three years, a former Philadelphia Phillies player won’t he inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. Hall of Fame weekend won’t be without some Phillies flare, though.

Thursday, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that the late David Montgomery has been named the 2020 winner of the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. Per the museum’s press release, the award is “presented to an individual for extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball’s positive impact on society.”

The award isn’t given out every year, which serves as a reminder of how high of a regard Montgomery was held in around the sport. John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil, Roland Hemond, Joe Garagiola and Rachel Robinson have also won the award.

The release notes that the presentation of the award will take place at Cooperstown on Saturday, July 25, the day before Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons are set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Montgomery, a minority owner and executive vice president of the team since 1981, became the club president in 1997, a position that he held until August of 2014. During his time as the team president, the Phillies built and moved into Citizens Bank Park. They also had the most successful run in franchise history, winning five consecutive National League East titles from 2007-2011, reaching the NLCS three times, the World Series twice and winning the second World Series title in franchise history in 2008.

Montgomery was also instrumental in assuring that the Phillies landed the MLB All-Star Game in 2026, the 250th anniversary of America. Though Montgomery wasn’t well enough to attend last April’s event announcing that the All-Star Game was returning to Philadelphia for the first time since 1996, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred lauded praise on Montgomery, who he said was instrumental in securing the event.

Last May, Montgomery passed away at the age of 72 after battling jaw bone cancer for five years.

Phillies Nation‘s Ty Daubert opined last month that Montgomery could be someone that the team considers as a possible Wall of Fame inductee this August.

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