God bless America!

That save (rightfully) changed Monday's image for the better on the spot. He was known as one arrogant ass in his prime, a prima Donna who was standoffish with his fans and the media, would disappear for days with minor injuries, and had let the distinction of being the 1 overall pick in the first amateur baseball draft go completely to his head. I wrote him a fan letter in 1974 as part of a grade school project that he never replied to.

The team secretary at the time was a wonderful lady named Jo Cornejo. My mom somehow knew her. One year we visited her office during a rain delay at Wrigley and she gave me a drawer full of Cubs buttons, stickers, bat and glove keychains, things like that. Jo felt bad that we had driven 175 miles and weren't going to be able to see a game due to the rain. She also mentioned that Monday basically had the time of day for no one unless there was something in it for him. Sort of like the story @Fryowa has told about Tom Chambers.

Well that action forty five years ago today earned him a ton of equity. The bicentennial that year was a big deal for a nation still recovering from Vietnam and Watergate.
 
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chucktownhawk said:
Good thing Monday grabbed that flag, LaSorda would've killed those punks
Click to expand...
Monday admitted that when he talked about the incident many years later to Cubs writer Carrie Muskat.

Lasorda was seen running towards the men from the third base coaches box as Monday was bringing the flag in. Monday said that if one would have seen the look in Tommy's eyes they would have been thankful security got to them before he did.

Monday would play for the Dodgers from 1977 to the end of his career with Lasorda then the manager. He would play in three world series, finally winning one in 1981.
 
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