Yesterday was July 4th! Happy birthday, America! To celebrate the anniversary of the birth of our nation, here is a little patriotic story about America's pastime.
The date was April 24, 1976 and the Cubs were playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Rick Monday started in center field that day for Chicago. Entering the bottom of the fourth, the Cubs were up 1-0, when suddenly, two men walked into center field with the intention of burning an American flag. Monday was throwing a ball with his fellow outfielders to practice for the upcoming inning, but as soon as he saw these two men about to burn the flag, he ran over and snatched it from them. He ran from the outfield all the way to the Dodgers dugout and handed the flag to Dodger pitcher, Doug Rau. Here's the link to the video.
When Monday stepped out to bat in the top of the fifth, he received a standing ovation from the LA crowd. On the message board of Dodger Stadium, it read in capitalized letters, "RICK MONDAY... YOU MADE A GREAT PLAY..." The two men, William Thomas and his 11-year-old son, were fined and charged for trespassing. The Dodgers would go on to win the game by a final score of 5-4 on a walk-off, tenth-inning single by Ron Cey, but really, it was America that won that day.
Rick Monday never put up Hall of Fame numbers, but that moment will forever be engraved in baseball history as one of the most patriotic acts any ballplayer has ever done on the field. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."
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