T.L. Montgomery is a lifelong Yankee fan, so it gave him great joy to be in Yankee Stadium last September, when the Yankees clinched a spot in the playoffs.
Not because the Yankees won, mind you. But because a home run by his son, White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, with dad and mom Lisa and high school coach Gene Mattingly all there to see it, almost spoiled the Yankees’ celebration.
“Colson kind of ruined their parade for one or two innings when he hit that home run,’’ T.L. said of his son’s two-run home run that night.
“I tell people that was the coolest home run I’ve seen him hit ever was that night in Yankee Stadium, 40 some odd thousand people there. It goes from 45,000 people cheering to just about 100 White Sox fans cheering, you know, from the family section.’’
T.L. Montgomery lives in Holland, Indiana, an itty-bitty town in southwest Indiana (population 600 and change) where the White Sox found their No, 1 draft choice in 2021, Colson Montgomery.
“Me and him, we were the biggest Yankees fans growing up,’’ T.L. said by phone the other day while taking a break from the roofing work he does for a living. “I always watched baseball and Colson would watch alongside me, and, you know, as a dad in baseball I’m like, ‘Oh, one day you’re going to be playing there and all this,’’ and all of a sudden I’m watching him play in Yankee Stadium, and then he hits a home run.
“As a dad, that’s awesome. But for him, too, it has to be surreal, too, playing in Yankee Stadium. Then last week, two in one game and then another one.’’
T.L. wasn’t there for that one, but he spotted something while watching on TV that brought back another memory. He saw Colson at the railing, signing autographs for Yankee fans. It reminded him of the time when he and Lisa brought Colson and his older brother to a game in Cincinnati where the Yankees were in town to play the Reds. They figured out what hotel in which the players were staying, and Colson and older brother Jayden scored autographs, including one from Nick Swisher.
When Colson went to Denver for the draft in 2021, he brought a picture of the Yankee first baseman signing to show Swisher, who was one of the analysts serving on the broadcast. That’s why it made T.L. feel so good to see Colson signing.
“To me, what a great thing for an opposing player to do, still gives time to kids from the other team and maybe makes some kid’s day,’’ T.L. said. “I’m sure they were yelling and giving him crap, but he knows what it’s all about.
When Colson was a kid, T.L. said he always wanted to see his son play against the toughest teams in the toughest tournaments. “This is the God’s honest truth,’’ he said, “I told him, ‘I want you to learn how to lose. Because you see all these other kids, when they lose, they just lose it. They cry, they break down.
“I told Colson, ‘If you’re gonna be great one day, you’re gonna have to learn how to lose, especially in baseball. You’re gonna have to have that mentality.’ He took to that.’’
That lesson held Colson in good stead during his minor-league struggles last season, when on the cusp of getting to the majors, he took a big step backward. He was sent back to the team’s training facility in Arizona to recalibrate. T.L. said he also reminded his son that Jeter, the Hall of Famer, had made 56 errors at short as a 19-year-old in A ball.
“Lisa and I would both tell him, ‘Just remember, you’re there for a reason. You’re gonna have ups and downs. You just have to have the mentality of I’m gonna get through it.’ And he did.
“He got down a little bit. There were a few things going on, He was sick, he had a sinus infection, he had a little lat thing, and then it becomes a mental thing and he was pretty well down in the dumps. But he kept a positive attitude about it.
“And right now, he’s pretty much on top of the world.’’