Fifty years ago, an innocuous fourth inning at Dodger Stadium gave way to an indelible moment in baseball -- and American -- history.
On April 25, 1976, the Dodgers hosted the Cubs in the rubber match of a three-game series. In the bottom of the fourth inning, two fans jumped the left-center field fence and hurried onto the outfield grass. Chicago center fielder Rick Monday noted a sound that didn’t match the rhythm of the game. He glanced to his right and saw the trespassers huddled over, unfurling an American flag.
They were going to burn the flag, right there in left field. Monday sprinted over and, without breaking stride, reached down and swiped the flag out from under them. On Saturday afternoon in Cooperstown, N.Y., the National Baseball Hall of Fame recognized Monday for his heroic, patriotic efforts with a special recognition at the awards presentation honoring Ford C. Frick winner Joe Buck, Baseball Writers Association of America Career Excellence Award winner Paul Hoynes and Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award winner Bill White.
“In the 50 years that have transpired since that Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, not much has changed,” Monday said from the stage at the Glimmerglass Festival theater. “The mail that we get is the same: about respect for this country, and the people who supported what that flag represents for each and every one of us.”
The moment is etched into history, and it still resonates all these years later. In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the event, Monday and his wife, Barbaralee, loaned the flag to the Hall of Fame to be displayed from from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend as part of the museum’s exhibit celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
“That flag still has a life,” he said, “and we are honored to share it with the Hall of Fame and the people.”
As the anniversary approached in April, Monday recalled that afternoon in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“I can see the guy pull out something real shiny,” Monday said. “It turned out to be one of those gigantic cans of lighter fluid. They were dousing it.”
Monday, who spent six years in the U.S. Marine Reserves during his 19-year MLB career, ran toward them.
“In retrospect, I may have been thinking about bowling them over,” Monday said. “But if they don’t have the flag, they cannot burn it. So I scooped down and got the flag.”
He prevented the American flag from being burned.
“I didn’t know if it was on fire or not, but I did know one of the guys was not a [baseball player],” Monday said in 2016, ahead of the 40th anniversary of his heroic act. “He threw the can of lighter fluid at me, but he didn’t have a good enough arm to hit me.”
As Monday remembers it, the crowd at Dodger Stadium began to sing “God Bless America.” The trespassers were escorted off the field, with then-Dodgers third base coach Tommy Lasorda hurling expletives their way.
When Monday came to bat an inning later, the Dodger Stadium scoreboard read: “Rick Monday … You made a great play.”
“It still catches a glimmer of attention for our country,” Monday told the LA Times. “Not for me. I was just a spokesman that afternoon for thousands and thousands, if not millions, of people in this country.”
Per his request, Monday received the flag in the aftermath of the incident, once the court proceedings were finished. In 2016, Monday told reporters that he and his wife had carried the flag across the country, raising more than $500,000 for military charities.
He told the L.A. Times that he still gets letters every week.
“A great number of the letters are from people that were not even born at the time, which to me is encouraging,” Monday said. “I’m also embarrassed by the attention that has been put upon me because I don’t know anyone that would not have done the same thing.”