Montañez was born in Cataño, Puerto Rico, and was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur in 1965. After one season with the Florida Rookie League Cardinals, he was selected by the California Angels in the 1965 Rule 5 draft, and made his major league debut with the Angels in their 1966 season opener as a pinch runner for Norm Siebern in the 14th inning. The Chicago White Sox won the game in the bottom of the inning before Montañez could log an at bat, however, he did have two at bats without a hit with the Angels before being returned to the Cardinals on May 5.\n', '

On October 7, 1969, the Cardinals traded Curt Flood, Byron Browne, Joe Hoerner and Tim McCarver to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas. When Curt Flood refused to report to his new team, the Cards sent Montañez and Jim Browning to the Phillies to complete the trade. He appeared in eighteen games with the Phillies in 1970, mostly in the outfield, and collected three runs batted in and scored three runs.\n', '

In 1971, Montañez was tabbed as the starting center fielder for the Phillies, and responded with a career-high 30 home runs (still a Phillies\' rookie record), 99 RBI, and a league-leading thirteen sacrifice flies. He finished second behind Atlanta Braves catcher Earl Williams in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.\n', '

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