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Durham manager Montoyo sees progress made in Moosic since he played in 1994-95.
MOOSIC — A slew of changes have occurred to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise since Charlie Montoyo played for the Red Barons in 1994-95.
The franchise switched affiliations.
The stadium in Lackawanna County has changed its name and look.
Even the fans seem different than 13 years ago.
But for Montoyo, the manager of the Durham Bulls, who are in a dogfight with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees for the Governors’ Cup, not much seems different.
“It’s fun seeing all the fans, all the people and all those guys who were kids when I was here. And now they are men,” the 42-year-old skipper said before his club took batting practice at PNC Field on Wednesday. “The two years I was here, the team struggled, so that wasn’t much fun. But it was a nice place to play. Coming here, and having success now is fun.”
Montoyo, who played in the infield for the Red Barons, didn’t have much to be excited about as a member of a last place team in 1994. That season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre struggled to a 62-80 record. Montoyo, however, had one of his best seasons in the minors. He led the team in walks (74) and on-base percentage (.397).
“My first year, I had a pretty good year, but that was the year of the strike,” he said. “I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting called up by the Phillies. Then the strike came and that was over for everybody.”
His second year as a Red Baron was frustrating. He was relegated to playing in just 92 games and picking up only 288 at-bats, as the Phillies organization began a rebuilding process.
Shortly after his Red Barons’ career ended in 1995, he became a manager. He has worked his way up by managing at every minor-league level. His first job as manager was with the Princeton in the Appalachian League in the rookie ranks.
Part of the Phillies organization’s movement to become younger helped Montoyo cross paths with some of the top prospects in the game. Some of those players remind the veteran coach of some up-and-coming stars he manages now
“We got some gamers here. I remember rightfielder Tom Marsh who was like that when I played here,” said Montoyo, now the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays’ top minor-league affiliate. “He was an all-out kind of guy. We have a bunch of guys now who are like that.”
During Tuesday night’s first game of the series, the Bulls held a one-run lead in the ninth inning thanks to a big five-run eighth inning in which Durham accumulated three walks, making the crowd restless with the home plate umpire.
As the last player of that inning struck out on three pitches, the fans let out a loud sarcastic cheer after all three strikes, making their presence felt.
That reaction was something Montoyo didn’t recall experiencing during his tenure in Moosic.
“The fans (Tuesday) night, I don’t know how many there were, but they were pretty loud,” said Montoyo, who was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987. “But that’s good to see that they’re having fun with the Yankees and having good success here now for the last couple years. I don’t remember them being like that when I was here, but maybe that’s because we didn’t give them much to cheer about.”
For the rest of the Governors’ Cup series, Montoyo, who has managed more than 1,300 minor-league games, now must hope Durham fans can give his team the same treatment. Otherwise, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre could hand Montoyo and the Bulls their second straight series defeat in the International League finals.