Thanks to the generosity of Walter's brother Gary, here are some of the stories of Walter Montgomery when he was playing for the Omaha Cardinals.
Jose Canseco is at least the second professional baseball player to be called a homer-head, that is a player who gets hit by a batted ball that then goes over the fence for a home run.
The 1953 Omaha Cardinals welcomed Dick Cordell, a newly assigned outfielder fresh from the University of Nebraska. He came with a tag ... good hit, no field. The plan was to let Cordell get three or four at bats each night. But your number one priority was to teach him how to stay alive in the outfield.
They weren't kidding. He was the worst butcher (fielder) I have ever seen in a baseball uniform. The first thing you do with a glove this bad is fill his cap with grass (a cushion for when he gets beaned) and hope for the best!
Weeks of fungo practice didn't help. The manager finally gave up and told him to play back near the wall, watch where the ball hit the ground, retrieve it and throw it in. He didn't hurt the club as badly as you might think. For every run he gave the opposing team, he would drive one in for his own club.
His homer-head label came in a game in Denver. Gary Blaylock, later a pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals, was pitching a good game. Cordell was in left field. As per manager instruction, he was near the fence. The hitter lofted a long fly. From our dugout someone shouts. Cordell doesn't know it but if he puts his glove up the ball is going to fall into it. Not quite. Cordell got the glove up, patted it a few times and watched as the ball hit him solidly in the head and caromed over the fence for a home run. While the umpire was signalling a round-tripper, Cordell did what he considered best. He immediately bent down and started digging a hole, telling the umpire the ball went under the fence. Didn't work.
The only thing he ever caught was a taxi when he was released. On that same team was another player who required special attention from the managerÑ Eddie PhillipsÑan excellent defensive outfielder, good enough with the glove to be in the big leagues. Catching the ball was easy for him. Throwing the ball after the catch was a different dimension. In the stands, in the dugoutsÑhe had no idea where the ball was going.
Managers do earn their paychecks. In this case he identified the problemÑPhillips had time to think in the outfield. That was detrimental. Move him to third base where everything is bang-bang. No time to think. Phillips was in the National League the next year.