Charlie Montoyo Gets His Big League Job
It’s finally happened. Charlie Montoyo, the winningest manager in Durham Bulls history, is a major league manager. The Blue Jays hired the 53-year-old as their new skipper on Thursday.
Montoyo piloted the Durham Bulls for eight seasons from 2007 through 2014, capturing seven IL South Division titles, a league-record six Governors’ Cup Finals berths, two Governors’ Cup crowns and a Triple-A National Championship. He finished his tenure in Durham with a 633–551 win-loss record, departing the Bull City with more wins than any other manager in franchise history. From 2015–2017 he was the Tampa Bay Rays third base coach, before serving as bench coach for the 2018 season.
Mike Birling, the Durham Bulls VP — Baseball Operations, and close personal friend of Montoyo, had this to say: “I have been telling Charlie for years this day would come and to see it a reality is special. He has meant so much to the Bulls organization and our amazing fans. Obviously the success we had on the field was important, but Charlie’s impact transcended wins and losses. He is a part of our Bulls family and we are so proud today.”
For his accolades Montoyo was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 2016, and had his number 25 jersey retired by the Bulls on May 19, 2016. Below is a video the Bulls produced for Montoyo’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Over his time in Durham, the Puerto Rico native was a two-time IL Manager of the Year, two-time IL All-Star team manager, and the 2009 Baseball America Minor League Manager of the Year. On five occasions his Bulls teams won 80 games or more.
The managerial position with the Blue Jays will mark the first coaching job Montoyo has ever had outside the Tampa Bay organization, as he served as a minor league manager in the system every year from 1997 to 2014.
Out of the 30 MLB manager positions, former Durham Bulls now hold five of them: Montoyo, Kevin Cash (Tampa Bay), Rocco Baldelli (Minnesota), Brian Snitker (Atlanta) and Mickey Callaway (New York Mets).
