Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of Rick Monday’s spontaneous act of heroism during a matchup between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in 1976.
The incident began when two fans ran onto the field from the left-field pavilion to set fire to a United States flag as a symbol of protest. Their attempt was thwarted by Monday, who ran over and snatched the flag before it could be set ablaze.
Monday, who served six years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, later said he was motivated by his experiences with veterans and hoped to preserve respect for military figures all over the United States and abroad.
Monday was awarded with the flag and still owns it to this day, but recently reached an agreement to send it to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
“This has been fun because the gentleman to my left, Josh and the Baseball Hall of Fame, we’ve been working on this for a while,” Monday said during Saturday’s broadcast on Fox.
“It was a year ago that we sat down and really had the dinner. And the plans that Josh outlined to us is, look, we’d like to have the flag. So with his group of people, it is going to be headed to Cooperstown after the seventh inning today. He’s taking possession and going east.”
Monday continued: “I mean, they’re so fastidious. They’ve taken photos, they’ve taken measurements, they’ve done everything else. So eventually, hopefully soon, we’re going to get it restored. But no greater honor for us to have been part of it and have it on display in baseball shrine, that being at Cooperstown.”
Josh Rawitch, president of the Baseball of Fame, is grateful that the flag will arrive just in time for the 250th anniversary of the United States becoming an independent nation.
“Well, honestly, there’s no greater honor than for us, as we’re celebrating America 250, to have an artifact of that level that fans can come see,” Rawitch said during the Fox broadcast.
“It really hasn’t been available for the public to see. So starting Memorial Day weekend, when Rick will be out there playing in our military classic game, we’re going to open up this exhibit and let fans come and take a look at this up close and personal.”
When will Rick Monday flag be on display at Baseball Hall of Fame?
The flag that Monday saved will be on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend as part of the museum’s exhibit celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
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