Rick Monday

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Rick Monday
Center fielder
Born: November 20, 1945 (1945-11-20) (age 62)
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 3, 1966
for the Kansas City Athletics
Final game
June 20, 1984
for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics
Batting average     .264
Home runs     241
Runs     950
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Rick Monday (born Robert James Monday, Jr. on November 20, 1945 in Batesville, Arkansas) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball and is currently a broadcast announcer. From 1966 through 1984, Monday, a center fielder for most of his career, played for the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics (1966-71), Chicago Cubs (1972-76) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1977-84). He batted and threw left-handed.

In a 19-season career, Monday compiled a .264 batting average with 241 home runs and 775 RBI. He was selected an All-Star in 1968 and 1978.

Contents

[edit] Early career

Monday's finest season as a professional came in 1976 as a member of the Chicago Cubs. Batting in the leadoff position, Monday hit .272, establishing career highs in home runs (32), runs (107), RBI (77), total bases (271), slugging percentage (.507) and OPS (.853), finishing 18th in the MVP voting.

A star at Arizona State University, Monday led the Sun Devils to the 1965 College World Series championship and earned All-America and College Player of the Year honors. Monday was selected with the first overall selection in the inaugural Major League First-Year Player Draft in 1965.

Monday started his major league career with the Athletics. He then spent several productive years with the Cubs, and was traded to the Dodgers just in time to join a team that won the National League pennant in 1977 and 1978.

[edit] Flag incident

Photo by Jim RoarkRick Monday grabbing the American flag away from two protesters.
Photo by Jim Roark
Rick Monday grabbing the American flag away from two protesters.

The two most famous moments of Monday's career were both associated with the Dodgers. On April 25, 1976, during a game at Dodger Stadium, two protestors, a man and his son, ran into the outfield and tried to set fire to an American flag they had brought with them. Monday, then playing with the Cubs, noticed they had placed the flag on the ground and were fumbling with matches and lighter fluid; he then dashed over and grabbed the flag off the ground to thunderous cheers. He handed the flag to Los Angeles pitcher Doug Rau, after which the ballpark police arrested the two intruders. When he came up to bat in the next half-inning, he got a standing ovation from the crowd and the big message board behind the left-field bleachers in the stadium flashed the message, "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 veterans' hospitals and seen too many broken bodies of guys who tried to protect it."[1]

At the end of the season, the Cubs traded Monday to the Dodgers in a five-player deal with two players (one of whom was Bill Buckner) going to the Cubs.

[edit] 1981 NLCS

By 1981, Monday was mostly a utility player. In the deciding Game 5 of the NLCS at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, he smashed a ninth-inning home run off the Expos' Steve Rogers that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 Dodgers victory. Monday's home run dashed what turned out to be the Expos' only chance at a pennant in their 36-year history in the National League. Even today, heartbroken Expos fans refer to his homer as "Blue Monday."[2] Los Angeles would go on to win the 1981 World Series, defeating the New York Yankees 4 games to 2.

[edit] Broadcasting career

Soon after his retirement as a player, Monday became a broadcaster for the Dodgers. He began in 1985 by hosting the pregame show and calling play-by-play on cable TV. From 1989-92, Monday moved further south to call San Diego Padres games alongside Jerry Coleman, replacing outgoing announcer Dave Campbell. He was also a sports anchor at KTTV for a time in the 1980s. In addition, he served as a color commentator for CBS-TV at the College World Series championship game in 1988. Monday rejoined the Dodgers in 1993, replacing Don Drysdale who died suddenly from a heart attack in his hotel room on a Dodger road trip in Montreal. Since 2005, Monday has mostly handled the analyst role, with Charley Steiner handling most of the play-by-play, except during road trips outside of the National League West division, during which Steiner broadcasts the games on television (because Vin Scully limits his broadcasting to all home games and road games involving either the NL West or AL West), and Monday handles the radio play-by-play.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Was the First person ever drafted in the Major League Baseball draft.
  • Led Southern League batters with 143 strikeouts, and led league outfielders with 287 putouts while playing for the Mobile A's in 1966.
  • Hit his first major league home run against Don McMahon in the 15th inning of a game that the Kansas City A's lost to the Boston Red Sox, 11-10 {Fenway Park -- April 29, 1967}.
  • Monday is still in possession of the flag he saved from being burned. He was offered a million dollars for it recently but turned it down.
  • Monday was born on the same day and year as Jay Johnstone, a teammate of his on the Dodgers' 1981 World Series champions. Both were also former Marines before their pro playing careers.
  • Monday's "Blue Monday" home run (that crushed the Montreal Expos' championship dream) was not forgotten in Montreal. He reported, in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, that when he was a broadcaster, years after the homer, he was unexpectedly held up at Dorval Airport by Canadian immigration officials, missing his connecting flight. When he inquired about the reason, he was asked if he was the former Dodger player, and got a smile.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ben Platt. "Monday's act heroic after 30 years", mlb.com, April 25, 2006. 
  2. ^ Au revoir, Expos: Top 10 Moments

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
none		 First overall pick in the MLB Entry Draft
1965		 Succeeded by
Steve Chilcott
Preceded by
César Cedeño		 National League Player of the Month
April, 1978		 Succeeded by
Jack Clark
v • d • e
Major League Baseball number one overall draft picks

Monday (1965) • Chilcott (1966) • Blomberg (1967) • Foli (1968) • Burroughs (1969) • Ivie (1970) • Goodwin (1971) • Roberts (1972) • Clyde (1973) • Almon (1974) • Goodwin (1975) • Bannister (1976) • Baines (1977) • Horner (1978) • Chambers (1979) • Strawberry (1980) • Moore (1981) • Dunston (1982) • Belcher (1983) • Abner (1984) • Surhoff (1985) • King (1986) • Griffey, Jr. (1987) • Benes (1988) • McDonald (1989) • Jones (1990) • Taylor (1991) • Nevin (1992) • Rodriguez (1993) • Wilson (1994) • Erstad (1995) • Benson (1996) • Anderson (1997) • Burrell (1998) • Hamilton (1999) • González (2000) • Mauer (2001) • Bullington (2002) • Young (2003) • Bush (2004) • Upton (2005) • Hochevar (2006) • Price (2007) • Beckham (2008)
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Los Angeles Dodgers 1981 World Series roster