Greg Montalbano, like most young boys from Massachusetts, loved baseball and the Red Sox from the time he could walk. When attending games with his family, he would wait with bated breath for Roger Clemens to take the pitchers’ mound. Like most young boys from Massachusetts, he wanted to be a baseball player, too.
Unlike most little boys, Montalbano got to be exactly that.
Gregory Joseph Montalbano, a minor-league pitcher and former Red Sox prospect, died Aug. 21 of testicular cancer at his home in Westborough. He was 31.
Mr. Montalbano was drafted by the Red Sox in 1999 and pitched in the Sox minor-league system for five years: for the Lowell Spinners, Sarasota Red Sox, Trenton Thunder, and Portland Sea Dogs.
“He started playing when he was 6 years old, in Little League,’’ said his sister, Kristen.“And even then you could see he had complete control of the mound.’’
The Red Sox observed a moment of silence in memory of Mr. Montalbano before yesterday’s game against the Yankees.
-Boston Globe
Really rough to hear. He did so, so much for baseball within the city of Boston itself. Even if you don't remember him as a player, you might have heard of some of the stuff he did for baseball in the South End.
Quote:
Kevin Youkilis had a heavy heart but a quick bat yesterday.
After learning that his friend and former minor league teammate Greg Montalbano had died after a long battle with cancer, Youkilis wrote “GM” on his cap and then delivered the first of two home runs with a second-inning blast off New York Yankees starter A.J. Burnett in Montalbano’s memory.
After rounding the bases, Youkilis pointed to the sky to honor Montalbano and thus begin what would turn into a rollicking good time for him
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/b...n_memory_of_gm
Tampa's Carlos Pena was Montalbano's college teammate as well. After hitting a HR yesterday, he held up a sign that read "That one was for you, Monty"