TAMPA, Fla. -- Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath sat on an elevated bench behind the batting cage with Joe Girardi, the Yankees manager.
Close by was Reggie Jackson, the former New York slugger and also a Hall of Famer. Taking batting practice was New York shortstop Derek Jeter, who recently announced his upcoming retirement in what has also been a Hall of Fame career.
Such is life at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the 27-time world champion Yankees. And this is where former Longwood pitcher Mark Montgomery found himself for most of March as a non-roster invitee with the American League club.
"You are going to see different faces here every day," says Montgomery, sitting by his locker in the spacious Yankees' first-base side clubhouse in Tampa. "That is the Yankees. They are classy."
Montgomery says he tries to "lay low and take it all in" as visiting celebrities pass through the New York clubhouse in the minutes leading up to a spring training game. But once the visitors have left, perhaps in the quiet moments in the clubhouse or bullpen, Montgomery tries to learn from his veteran teammates.
"It is pretty crazy … I just try to take in as much as I can when they talk and try to listen. I try to learn something from them every day," he says of Yankee veterans such as Jeter and pitcher C.C. Sabathia. "It is just exciting to be around them."
That includes former closer Mariano Rivera, who retired following the 2013 season. "His thing was … be you. Just go out and stay calm," Montgomery said.
Montgomery, from Bruton High in Williamsburg, pitched at Triple-A in 2013, but shoulder problems ended his season early as he went on the disabled list in August.
"It kind of bothered me the whole year," he said of the bursitis. "It is just something you have to let take its course. It was tough to sit back and rest, but in the end it should be okay."
Last year, the right-hander from Williamsburg began the season at Triple-A, where he was 2-3 with an ERA of 3.38 in 25 games for the season. In 40 innings out of the bullpen, he gave up 36 hits and 25 walks with 49 strikeouts. He also made four appearances in the Gulf Coast League while on a rehab assignment.
After a winter of recovery at a Yankees' facility in Tampa, he retired all three batters he faced in his first spring training appearance for the Yankees on Feb. 28 against the Detroit Tigers. "Everything felt real good. It felt great," he said about his first spring outing.
In mid-March he was sent to the Yankees' minor league complex and appears headed to Triple-A to start the season in early April. He was impressive in spring training with the Yankees, as he allowed just one hit in four and one-third innings with an ERA of 2.08 in five games.
Montgomery was drafted out of Longwood by the Yankees in the 11th round in 2011 after he went 1-0 with an ERA of 0.89 and 10 saves in 22 games for the Lancers.
He began the 2012 season at Single-A Advanced of the Florida State League and was 4-1, 1.34 with 14 saves before he was promoted to Double-A Trenton of the Eastern League. With the Thunder he was 3-1, 1.88 in 15 outings to combine for 64 and one-third innings pitched with an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 99-22, thanks to a dominating slider, in 2012.
"I think (the slider) is back to where it was," he said in early March.
This past off-season Montgomery spent about two weeks at home in Virginia around Thanksgiving and Christmas. But most of the time he was working out several times a week in Tampa.
He was excited to hear his former Longwood assistant coach, Brian McCullough, was named the head coach for the Lancers after the retirement of Buddy Bolding.
"I called him and expressed how excited I was for him," Montgomery said of McCullough, also a former Longwood pitcher. "He works hard and he works hard for that program. It is an exciting time for the baseball team at Longwood with the wins they had last year and their start this season."
Editor's Note: Special consultant David Driver is a Virginia native and has covered college sports in the state for more than 20 years. He has been a staff writer for newspapers in Arlington, Springfield and Harrisonburg and has contributed to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post, Stafford County Sun and The Potomac News in Woodbridge. He was also the first sports editor for the daily Baltimore Examiner. He will continue contributing special feature content to longwoodlancers.com throughout the 2013-14 academic year as well. A former Division III baseball player at Eastern Mennonite University, David can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com.
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