{"id":3184,"date":"2016-04-21T08:08:32","date_gmt":"2016-04-21T12:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3184"},"modified":"2025-10-16T16:30:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:30:06","slug":"mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rick<\/a>
Rick Monday rescues the American flag.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Forty years ago, on April 25, 1976, just weeks before America would mark the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, a Chicago Cubs centerfielder made an immortal catch that didn\u2019t involve catching a baseball. Instead, it rescued an American flag<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That afternoon, Rick Monday snatched the star-spangled banner<\/a> from two protestors who had squirted lighter fluid on it and tried to set it on fire at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\"Rick<\/a>
Rick Monday bobblehead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monday\u2019s Sunday action made immediate news around the nation with stories appearing in newspapers from Trenton, New Jersey<\/a>, to Portland, Oregon<\/a>, and from Cleveland, Ohio<\/a>, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana<\/a>. The Boston Herald American even placed a photo of the event on its front page.<\/p>\n

The flag grab became so famous that many people would later remember witnessing the scene live on national television, but the game wasn\u2019t broadcast. What they recall is a classic still photograph, Monday\u2019s post-game remarks and an 8mm film taken by a fan that didn\u2019t surface until 1984.<\/p>\n

While the left-handed veteran \u2013 of both baseball<\/a> and the Marine Reserves \u2013 would play in the majors for 19 seasons, it was his action that day, which lasted only a few seconds, that immortalized him. The event began in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he stood in the outfield. Waiting for the first Dodger to come to bat, Monday spied a man in his 30s and a teenager who had slipped out of the stands and onto the grass to his right.<\/p>\n

\"Recently,<\/a>
Recently, Monday showed the flag he rescued.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSuddenly, they\u2019re laying out the flag like a picnic blanket,\u201d he later told The Chicago Daily News. Then he saw that the two planned no picnic. The adult sprinkled lighter fluid on the banner and tried to strike a match. When it fizzled before touching the cloth, Monday had time to race to the scene, thinking of the many wounded veterans he had visited in VA hospitals and how they would be appalled by the flames.<\/p>\n

Before a second flame could be brought to the American flag, the charging athlete bent down without breaking stride, snatched Old Glory from the ground and raced toward the third-base dugout.<\/p>\n

The scoreboard congratulated the Cubbie by posting, \u201cYou made a great play,\u201d and the crowd of 25,000 Dodger fans gave the opposing player a standing ovation. Monday insisted that \u201cthey weren\u2019t clapping for me, but for what the flag means to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right after the incident, he said, \u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to be any hero or anything. I just happen to respect our flag and what it stands for, and I don\u2019t like to see anybody treat it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a brief time in police possession, the flag was returned to Monday, who has protected it ever since, just as he did that Sunday.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the Dodgers paid tribute to his action by handing out a bobble-head that showed him at the moment he raced away with the flag, a rare occasion when one team saluted a rival player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forty years ago, on April 25, 1976, just weeks before America would mark the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, a Chicago Cubs centerfielder made an immortal catch that didn\u2019t involve catching a baseball. Instead, it rescued an American flag. That afternoon, Rick Monday snatched the star-spangled banner from two protestors who had squirted lighter… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,48],"class_list":["post-3184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-baseball"],"yoast_head":"\nMonday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Forty years ago, on April 25, 1976, just weeks before America would mark the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, a Chicago Cubs centerfielder made an immortal catch that didn\u2019t involve catching a baseball. Instead, it rescued an American flag. That afternoon, Rick Monday snatched the star-spangled banner from two protestors who had squirted lighter... continue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-21T12:08:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-16T20:30:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"172\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/\",\"name\":\"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-21T12:08:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-16T20:30:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":172},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \\\"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\\\" and co-author of \\\"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\\\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","og_description":"Forty years ago, on April 25, 1976, just weeks before America would mark the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, a Chicago Cubs centerfielder made an immortal catch that didn\u2019t involve catching a baseball. Instead, it rescued an American flag. That afternoon, Rick Monday snatched the star-spangled banner from two protestors who had squirted lighter... continue","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/","og_site_name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","article_published_time":"2016-04-21T12:08:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-16T20:30:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":172,"url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Breig","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Breig","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/","name":"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-21T12:08:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-16T20:30:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Rick-Monday-rescues-the-American-flag.-300x172-1.jpg","width":300,"height":172},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mondays-sunday-saved-american-flag\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Monday\u2019s Sunday saved American flag"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/","name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a","name":"James Breig","description":"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\" and co-author of \"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3184"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6008,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3184\/revisions\/6008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}