There has possibly been no Jackson Countian who has enjoyed the athletic success achieved by Jeff Montgomery. His achievements are those that future generations can all strive for.

Montgomery's real claim to fame came as a relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals professional baseball team of the American League. It was Montgomery's job for more than a decade to come in the ninth inning, when the Royals were ahead, and gain the three outs necessary to preserve the victory, a role known as the "closer" in baseball.

His first professional organization was the Cincinnati Reds, which drafted him out of Marshall University as their top pick in the June, 1983 free agent draft. He rose through the ranks of the Cincinnati Reds organization, in one minor league game setting a league record by striking out 11 consecutive hitters.

He reached the major league level in 1987 with the Reds, appearing in 14 games, one of them as a starter, and had a 2-2 won-loss record with a 6.52 earned run average. After that season on February 13, 1988, Montgomery was traded from the team he grew up following to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Van Snider. It was there he spent 12 years as one of their primary pitchers and established himself as one of major league baseball's best relief pitchers.

His best year could have been 1993, when he appeared in 69 games with 45 saves, had a 7-5 won-loss record and an excellent 2.27 earned run average. He also had a standout year in 1990, when he had a 6-5 won-loss record and a 2.39 earned run average with 24 saves.

He was a member of the American League All-Star team on three different occasions, 1992, 1993 and 1996. When he completed his 13-year major league career in 1999, including his year with the Reds, he had pitched in 700 games with a 46-52 won-loss record and a most respectable 3.27 earned run average. He had 733 strike outs and only 296 bases on balls.

He finished his career with 304 saves, all with the Royals, and is the all-time saves leaders for the Royals. At the time, it placed him 14th on the all-time major league saves total list.

On August 2, 2003, he was named to the Kansas City Royals Hall Of Fame.
He is also a member of the Marshall University Hall Of Fame, gaining that distinction in 1989. He pitched for the Thundering Herd for three years, and was the Southeastern Conference Freshman Of The Year in 1981.

Montgomery also had a stellar interscholastic career at Wellston High School, where he graduated in 1980. He was a four-year starter in football and baseball, a three-year starter in basketball and was named the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League's (SEOAL) Top All-Around Male Athlete for 1980.

In baseball, he was a pitcher and a shortstop, all-SEOAL his junior and senior year and played in the All-Ohio Baseball Series in Columbus. He established or shared 18 school records in baseball.

He was a first-team all-league, all-district and all-state pick in football and set all the school's place-kicking records. He connected on 55 of 67 extra point kicks, including 26 in a row, and six of eight field goal tries. He saw action at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back and led the league in punting his senior year.

On the basketball floor, he averaged 12.3 points per game and was considered the team's best defensive player his senior year.

Montgomery and his wife, Tina, live in Kansas City with their four children. Jeff Montgomery certainly made Jackson County proud.