Steve Montgomery (widely known as “Mongo”) will mark his 11th season with the Explorers in 2025. Montgomery is the winningest manager in team history and has led the Explorers to the playoffs in seven of his 10 seasons at the helm of the ball club, including finals appearances in 2015 and 2019. Over the years, he has built his teams around strong pitching and speed, putting the Explores in the playoff mix yearly while assembling the most exciting rosters in the American Association. The 2024 season proved right on target and characteristic of Mongo as the team qualified, once again, for the playoffs for the second straight season, with his team leading the league in stolen bases with 200.
Under Montgomery, the Explorers have had a history of finishing strong, and 2024 was no different. August has remained a banner month for the X’s since 2018 as the X’s have had four winning months, and in the only losing month, the team still made the postseason. The Explorers are 78-60 over the last five seasons (minus 2020 when the team did not play) in the season’s final month, and under Montgomery, they have a .565 winning percentage. The club is 94-74 in August over the last six Augusts combined.
Montgomery enters 2025 with a 553-446 (.554) regular-season record. His 2015 club holds the record for most league wins in a season at 75. The Explorers celebrated Mongo’s becoming the winningest Manager in Explorers history on July 22, 2022, in a 7-4 win over the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park. His 427th win passed Ed Nottle, who had held the record since 2007 after he managed the club for 10 seasons. The 2023 club was Mongo’s sixth team to have a winning record, and the 52 wins marks the sixth time he has notched at least 50 wins in a season. Montgomery reached the 500-win mark in the Siouxland on May 27, 2023 in a 3-2 win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Lewis and Clark Park.
Montgomery began his coaching career in 2004 as a pitching coach with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, and from 2005-2009, he also served as the pitching coach for North Dakota State University. In his 10 seasons as the pitching coach, the RedHawks compiled a 590-383 record, good for a .606 winning percentage. Montgomery spent nine seasons in professional baseball, playing in the Orioles, Royals, Dodgers and Red Sox organizations, reaching as high as Triple-A in 1997. He also played independent baseball in the Frontier and Northern Leagues. He was a member of the 1996 Australian Baseball League Champion Perth Heat while a member of the Orioles organization. He won a crucial game one for Perth as they claimed the 1996 Claxton Shield in Australia. Montgomery is originally from Ohio but resides in Sioux City year-round. He is an outspoken supporter of the Siouxland community and makes countless appearances in the area year-round. An avid hockey fan, he can be found with pitching coach Bobby Post at many Sioux City Musketeers contests, and his summer baseball clinics are community staples, promoting the growth of youth baseball during Sioux City summers.
