BOSTON -- Since he was hired as the Toronto Blue Jays' manager this past October, Charlie Montoyo has had a date marked on his calendar: April 9, 2019.
That's because when they announced the starting lineups for the Blue Jays and Alex Cora's Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Tuesday, it was the first time two Puerto Rican managers faced each other in a major league game.
"Let me tell you sincerely, when they gave me the job, the first thing I thought was, 'When do we play against Boston, against the other Puerto Rican?'" Montoyo said in an interview with ESPN on Monday. "I'm so proud of [Cora]. I get goose bumps just thinking about the many Puerto Ricans that are going to be in Boston [on Tuesday], waving the Puerto Rican flag.
"This is going to be historic, and I am very happy that this is going to happen. I know that we are representing Puerto Rico proudly. And the best thing about it all, is that Puerto Rico will win any way."
An occasion to remember! 🇵🇷
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 9, 2019
Today's game between the #BlueJays and Red Sox is the first-ever @MLB matchup featuring two Puerto Rican Managers. pic.twitter.com/iuKpAgsQH6
Montoyo, who is 53 and served as a bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays last season, became the fourth Puerto Rican manager in the major leagues when he was hired by the Blue Jays in October.
Edwin Rodriguez was the first Puerto Rican manager in the majors when he took over the Miami Marlins after the dismissal of Cuban-American Fredi Gonzalez in June 2010. Sandy Alomar Jr. served as interim manager of the Cleveland Indians during the last games of the 2012 campaign, when Dominican Manny Acta, now a coach with the Seattle Mariners, was removed from his post.
For the first time in major league history, there are three MLB managers with Puerto Rican roots, with Dave Martinez, born to Puerto Rican parents in New York City, at the helm of the Washington Nationals.
But Montoyo and Cora took very different paths to get to this point in their careers.
After 14 years in the majors, and since his retirement from playing after the 2011 season, Cora immediately became part of a short list of Latino prospects to be an MLB manager.
He then became manager and general manager of the Criollos de Caguas of the Puerto Rican winter league, was an ESPN baseball analyst and, later on, was general manager of the Puerto Rican team for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Cora also won a World Series championship as bench coach for the Houston Astros before becoming the first minority manager in Boston's 117-year franchise history.
The Red Sox decided to hire Cora without his having any experience as a major league manager primarily because of his demonstrated knowledge of baseball and his potential to communicate with and inspire players of diverse ages and backgrounds. He lived up to those expectations by becoming the second Latino manager, and first Puerto Rican, to win a World Series after Venezuelan Oswaldo "Ozzie" Guillen did it with the Chicago White Sox in 2005.
Montoyo had a short career of just four games in the major leagues with the Montreal Expos, about which the always jovial manager joked, "People better not forget that in those games I hit .400!"
Before becoming Kevin Cash's bench coach, Montoyo had a 22-year managerial career in the Rays' farm system.
He was at the helm of the Tampa Bay Rays' Triple-A affiliate, the Durham Bulls, from 2007 to 2014. During his eight-year tenure, the native of Florida, Puerto Rico, won seven pennants and went to a record six Governors' Cup finals, winning championships in 2009 and 2013. His 633-515 record as manager of the Bulls is the highest number of victories in franchise history, leading him to be inducted into the International League Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2016.
"I've been saying it for five or six years," Cora said of Montoyo's hiring. "This is not about minorities. It's not about him being Latino or Puerto Rican. Charlie Montoyo is a great baseball man, and he's been coaching and managing for a lot of years. I'm very happy for him."
Cora and Montoyo will also both be looking to turn things around after a poor start to the 2019 season, with the Sox and Jays sharing last place in the AL East at 3-8. However, unlike Cora's champions, who finished last season with a franchise-record 108 wins, Montoyo will have an uphill climb with the Blue Jays.
Toronto is a young team, deep in a rebuilding process after winning 73 games last season, and a clear underdog in the AL East after finishing fourth in 2018.
"All I am is grateful for this opportunity," Montoyo said. "This is not an easy sport. You have to do it day in and day out. When things are not going well, that's when people show you who they truly are. Everything I do is from experience, I think about what I would like to see from my manager if I was a player. If the players see me relaxed, they will relax.
"And one thing that relaxes me is music. I love salsa music, and when you go to Toronto and go to my office, you will see some congas, you will see bongos, there is a guiro [a Latin American percussion instrument], there are maracas. ... I play some music, and I know they relax. It's not easy, and it's not like it doesn't bother me to lose -- it bothers me to lose more than anyone -- but it's a long season, and we have to stay relaxed."
In addition to the significance of Tuesday's matchup, Montoyo said it's also his mother's birthday.
"So I'm going to tell Alex, 'It's Mom's birthday, so come on, man, you can give me one,'" Montoyo joked. "'We'll have 18 more!'"
Cora and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, on Oct. 23, became the first two minority managers to face each other in 114 editions of the World Series. And they did it at Fenway Park, home of the last major league team to break the color barrier, 12 years after Jackie Robinson's debut.
On Tuesday, all eyes were on Cora, with the Red Sox receiving their championship rings during their home opener. But for Puerto Rico, it was a day like no other in baseball history, which made Montoyo think of Puerto Rican idol Roberto Clemente, the first Latin American player to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
"My favorite number is 25, but [Tuesday] I feel like I would like to be wearing Roberto Clemente's No. 21," Montoyo said, eyes glistening. "I feel like Roberto Clemente is looking down on us from heaven, saying, 'Look, this actually happened! Two managers, born and raised in Puerto Rico, one in Caguas and the other in Florida, Puerto Rico.'
"It's going to be very nice. It's going to be very special."