Rick Monday
Robert James (Rick) Monday, Jr. (born
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.
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 1st 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.
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 ran into the outfield and tried to
set fire to an
American flag they had brought with them. Monday, then playing with the Cubs, dashed over and grabbed the flag out of their hands, to thunderous cheers, after which the ballpark police arrested the two intruders. Coincidentally, 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.
By
1981, Monday was mostly a
utility player. In Game 5 of the
NLCS at
Montreal's Olympic Stadium, he smashed a late-inning home run that defeated the
Expos, breaking the hearts of Montreal fans, in what would prove to be the closest they ever came to winning a pennant in their 36-year history in the
National League. Even today, heartbroken Expos fans refer to the days events as "Blue Monday." The Dodgers went on to win the
1981 World Series over the
New York Yankees, 4 games to 2.
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 Homeruns (32), Runs (107), Rbi's (77), Total Bases (271), Slugging Percentage (.507) and OPS (.853), finishing 18th in the MVP voting.
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. 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 the late
Don Drysdale), and as of
2004, is one of the primary play-by-play announcers, calling most of the Dodgers' radio broadcasts. Monday since 2005 has handled mostly the analyst role, with
Charley Steiner handling most of the play-by-play, except during road trips outside the National League West division, in which Steiner broadcasts the games on television (due to Vin Scully limiting 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.
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Baseball Reference - career statistics and analysis
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Baseball Library - profile and chronology
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30th Anniversary of Saving the Flag - Major League Baseball's 30th Anniversary news story about the flag incident
