Gelb: Phillies’ Montgomery talks money

(ratzenfratzen…Ryan Howard’s contract…ratzenfratzen)

But the 65-year-old Montgomery, a 41-year team employee, still bristles at comparisons to the Yankees and Red Sox. The Phillies, he says, have a National League identity. They have risen to baseball royalty, he says, because of unprecedented fan support.

“We’re just trying to stay ahead of the group for one more year. And then one more year after that,” Montgomery said. “I see us differently.”

Q: Is a team-owned network out of the question?

Montgomery: It’s not out of the question. It’s a possibility. But that’s an enormous undertaking. We’ve had enough trouble figuring out how to run a baseball franchise without also trying to run a TV property. But you never know. This is Comcast’s home market. They’re proud of that. We’re the Philadelphia Phillies and we’re a big part of their network. Hopefully, in time, we’ll get together.

Q: Has there ever been talk of adding seats to Citizens Bank Park?

Montgomery: We talk about it, but we talk about adding twos and fours and not thousands. We believe a lot of the appeal for the ballpark comes from the intimacy of the facility. We tried hard to have the best sight lines we could. If you start to readjust your thinking and take away some of the amenities currently in the ballpark, you may do more harm than good. We don’t wish we were playing in the L.A. Coliseum with 98,000 seats at this point.