Robert James Monday, Jr. was the #1 draft pick of the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics in 1965. He went by the name of Rick, and his team, Arizona State, won the College World Series in 1965. Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson played with him on that team. He played for the Athletics from 1966-71, then he went to the Cubbies from 1972-76, and finally to the Dodgers for the last years of his career, 1977-1984. His trade to the Dodgers was not popular for me because that’s the trade that sent Bill Buckner to the Cubs.
He is famous and remembered for two things. On April 25th, 1976 while playing for the Cubs, Monday rescued the American flag from 2 protestors in LA who had run on the field to burn the flag. He grabbed the flag from a father and son, and ran away giving it to Dodgers pitcher Doug Rau. When Monday came to the plate later in the game, the Dodger’s scoreboard flashed this message to Monday: RICK MONDAY….YOU MADE A GREAT PLAY! He later said, “If you’re going to burn the flag, don’t do it around me. I’ve been to too many veteran’s hospitals and seen too many broken bodies of guys who tried to protect it.” Get this: Monday still has the flag and he has been offered a million dollars for it but he won’t sell. His second memorable moment came in the deciding game of the NLCS in 1981 at Montreal, Monday hit a two out home run in the ninth inning to lead the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory and a spot in the World Series where they would beat the dreaded Yankees in 6 games. (I could now forgive the Dodgers for trading Buckner). The Dodgers dropped the first two games of the Series before winning 4 straight. See, Ken, true American heroes come from the game of Baseball!!
Oh, and remember the actress Tuesday Weld? If she would have married Rick Monday, her name would be Tuesday Monday.
#15 manana….see ya then…………………………..
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