Rick Monday

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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. 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."^{[citation needed]} 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 home runs (32), runs (107), RBI (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. 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 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.

Contents 1 Trivia 2 Reference 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Trivia

• 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}
• was the second batter ever faced by Seattle Pilots right-hander Dick Bates, and he hit a two-run homer off of him {Sick's Stadium -- April 27, 1969)
• Monday was born on the same day as Jay Johnstone, a teammate of his on the Dodgers' 1981 World Series champions.

[edit] Reference

• 1971 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time

[edit] External links

• Baseball Reference - career statistics and analysis
• Baseball Library - profile and chronology
• 30th Anniversary of Saving the Flag - Major League Baseball's 30th Anniversary news story about the flag incident
• Retrosheet

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