April 25, 1976: Rick Monday, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War era, is playing center field for the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. He notices two people in left-centerfield, preparing to burn the American flag. He ran over and grabbed the flag from them.
Later in 1976, Dodgers executive Al Campanis gave the flag to Monday. He still has it. "I know the people were very pleased to see Monday take the flag away from those guys," Manny Mota, who played with Monday, said. "I know Rick has done a lot of good things as a player and as a person. But what he did for his country, he will be remembered for the rest of his life as an American hero."
The actual flag has faded. The story has not.
Rick Monday didn't do a damn thing for his country by saving that flag. If anything, he interfered with two people who, however misguided and offensive, were exercising their constitutional rights. It was, literally, the least American thing he could have done. But, it was a flag moment in the Bicentennial year, so it was celebrated.
This was 20 days after the event that became known as "the Soiling of Old Glory," in which a racist taunted a black man with a flag at City Hall in Boston. Has anybody ever asked Monday about that?
As for the game: The Dodgers beat the Cubs, 5-4. Ron Cey singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The Dodgers acquired Monday before the next season, fitting in with their heavily-promoted All-American image. Actually, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the quintessential American sports team: They abandoned the people from whence they came, not for a better life but for more money, and stole land from the people who were already at their destination.
Then they issued lies and platitudes about themselves, all the while hiding some great evils. Sure, their Brooklyn forebears had ended baseball's segregation, but Campanis himself exposed his own racial bigotry, and manager Tommy Lasorda was exposed as homophobic. And then there was their paragon of virtue, Steve Garvey...
A 2-time All-Star, Monday reached the postseason with the Oakland Athletics before being traded to the Cubs, and won the 1981 World Series with the Dodgers, having hit a Pennant-clinching home run in the National League Championship Series against the Montreal Expos. He retired after the 1984 season, with a .264 lifetime batting average and 241 home runs.
He became a broadcaster for the Dodgers, and still has the flag. He claims he has been offered $1 million for it, but won't sell it.
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April 25, 1976 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 7-0 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Johnny Bench and Dave Concepción hit home runs. Pete Rose went 3-for-4.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 2-for-4. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 3-1 at San Diego Stadium.
* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. John Candelaria pitched a 2-hit shutout. Willie Stargell hit a home run.
* The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals were rained out at Yankee Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 6. The Royals won the opener, 3-1. Doug Bird outpitched Ed Figueroa, although Roy White hit a home run. The Yankees won the nightcap, 7-4. A 5-run 8th inning, including a home run by Chris Chambliss, gave the Yankees the win. Sparky Lyle was the winning pitcher, in relief of Dick Tidrow, over Steve Busby. Graig Nettles also hit a home run.
* The California Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers were rained out at Milwaukee County Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 19. The Angels swept, 4-2 and 6-1.
* The Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers were rained out at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 10. The Tigers won the 1st game, 7-5. The Rangers won the 2nd game, 3-0.
* And the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox were rained out at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The game was made up on August 19. The White Sox won, 4-2. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.
There were 2 NBA Playoff games played. The Buffalo Braves beat the Boston Celtics, 98-93 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Phoenix Suns, 114-108 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. But the Celtics and the Suns would win these series, and face each other in the NBA Finals. The Celtics won in 6 games.
One game was played in the American Basketball Association Playoffs: The Kentucky Colonels beat the Denver Nuggets, 119-115 in double overtime at Freedom Hall in Louisville. But the Nuggets would win the series, before losing the ABA Finals to the New York Nets.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between rounds, and so no games were scheduled. There were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association Playoffs. The Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Cowboys, 3-2 at the Winnipeg Arena. And the Houston Aeros beat the San Diego Mariners, 8-4 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).
Also, Basketball Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan was born.
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