06/10/26 06:08:00
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06/10 18:06 CDT White Sox rookie Braden Montgomery hasn't calmed down after his
historic walk-off MLB debut
White Sox rookie Braden Montgomery hasn't calmed down after his historic
walk-off MLB debut
By LUKE DeCOCK
Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) --- By the time Braden Montgomery returned to Rate Field on
Wednesday, the glow from his major league debut the night before was a long way
from fading.
Montgomery capped a 2-for-5 night with a game-ending, two-run homer in the 10th
inning to lift the Chicago White Sox to a 6-5 win over Atlanta Braves. He
became the fifth player in MLB history to hit a walk-off homer in his debut,
joining Billy Parker (1971), Josh Bard (2002), Miguel Cabrera (2015) and Carlos
Prez (2023).
Montgomery was still buzzing hours after his 343-foot, opposite-field shot
cleared the fence in left field.
"I don't know if I would be considered calmed down at this point," Montgomery
said. "Just been enjoying it, sharing it with my family."
White Sox manager Will Venable said he isn't worried about the 23-year-old
getting ahead of himself after one game.
"We haven't had anybody with a debut like that, but I think he's as grounded as
they come," Venable said. "This is a guy that has really high expectations of
himself. I'm sure he envisioned himself doing this, what he did last night. To
be honest, his idea of what he can do in this league is as high as anybody
else's. It was exactly what he expected."
Montgomery spent the start of his second day of his big league career
responding to the text messages he continues to receive --- "The number shrinks
and grows as I answer them, but more come in," Montgomery said --- and spending
time with his parents and family, who were sitting behind home plate Wednesday
night.
His mother, Gretchen Montgomery Willock, posted a video of the family
celebration in the stands that went viral on social media. On Wednesday, she
posted, "Let me tell you about a dream I had last night."
"It's not really something you can imagine," Montgomery said. "You just kind of
go into it with your expectations and do whatever the game brings."
One of the top prospects in the White Sox organization, acquired from the Red
Sox in the December 2024 trade that sent Garrett Crochet to Boston, Montgomery
was hitting .315 for Triple-A Charlotte. He became the 12th White Sox rookie to
debut this season, the second-highest total before the All-Star break since the
1944 Cincinnati Reds had 13, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The influx of youth has helped the White Sox go 29-18 since April 17, second
only to the New York Yankees (30-17), despite injuries to Munetaka Murakami and
Everson Pereira. among others. The White Sox are 5-4 since Murakami, a rookie
from Japan who leads the team with 20 homers, injured his right hamstring on
May 29.
Colson Montgomery joined that list Tuesday. He is day to day with a sore back
and was not in the lineup Wednesday. The second-year shortstop, a relative
veteran of 135 MLB games, said his younger teammates are feeding off each other
to pick up the slack.
"You get up here, and it's like, these are my boys, my teammates, this is
nothing new," Colson Montgomery said. "That's why a lot of our young rookie
guys are coming up here and they're thriving because they're just being
themselves and they know they can be themselves. ... We have a lot of guys in
the minor leagues who are coming up and they're ready to show their impact."
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
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