Phillies Chairman, Former President Montgomery Passes Away at 72

The Philadelphia Phillies lost a man on Wednesday morning that is eliciting a common theme: "classy".  Phillies chairman and former president David Montgomery passed away this morning, the club announced.  Montgomery had spent the last five years battling cancer.  Montgomery was just 72 years old.

Montgomery's story is one of the American dream.  The man who would be come team president began working for the Phillies in the ticket office, moonlighting as a scoreboard operator.  He worked up the ranks, becoming marketing coordinator and then executive vice president when the Carpenter family sold the team to a new ownership group assembled by Bill Giles.

Soon Montgomery became chief operating officer, and when Giles stepped down from the president's role in 1997, Montgomery assumed the role of president.  In that role, the 2008 Phillies won their first World Series since 1980 and continued their winning ways for years.

But aside from his accomplishments on the field, the first thing people have shared about Montgomery upon learning his passing was first and foremost what a kind and gentle human being he was.

I am sure more will be reflecting upon a great man's life as the day goes on.