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Posted on 04/25/2026 4:00:14 AM PDT by DFG
Fifty years ago on Saturday, 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.
“I can see the guy pull out something real shiny,” Monday told the LA Times in a story published last Sunday. “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.”
The moment is etched into history, and it still resonates all these years later. In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the event, Monday is loaning the flag to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. It will be on display from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend as part of the museum’s exhibit celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
“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, Barbaralee, had carried the flag across the country, raising more than $500,000 for military charities.
He told the LA 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.”
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A Marine becomes a Dodger......has got to be a match made in heaven.
Yes, Rick wasn’t a draft Dodger. 👍
Suits and ties at a baseball game.
Standing up to applaud his save of the flag.
Singing together to celebrate the act and our country.
We were better back then.
Hah......cute.
I don’t know how accurate, but this is fascinating:
https://billstaples.blogspot.com/2020/07/baseball-and-burning-american-flag.html
I don't know what happened in 1976, but today they'd be celebrated by the Democrats for their bravery "for change".
Plus, at least half of each team wouild have taken the flag away from him and given it back to the vandals. And knelt. And he’d be thrown out of the players’ union.
Excellent idea! You should post it on Truth Social. These are the events that Trump loves, and likes to showcase.
For those around the country who don’t know, since his playing days Rick Monday has been a game day broadcaster for Dodger games. He is gifted with a golden, mellow voice and is one of the very best in the business. We are all fortunate for Rick Monday.
The Cubs are playing the Dodgers again today--in Dodger Stadium.
I checked his bio. He has not received the Medal of Freedom. It is an excellent idea!
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