30 Years Ago Today
This story made me smile:
On April 25, the Chicago Cubs were visiting Dodger Stadium for a three-game series. Playing center field for the Cubs was Rick Monday[.]
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On this day, fate would hand Monday a moment that people still talk about with reverence 30 years later. Monday recounts the moment in his own words.
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“When these two guys ran on the field, something wasn’t right. And it wasn’t right from the standpoint that one of them had something cradled under his arm. It turned out to be an American flag. They came from the left-field corner, went past Cardenal to shallow left-center field.
“That’s when I saw the flag. They unfurled it as if it was a picnic blanket. They knelt beside it, not to pay homage but to harm it as one of the guys was pulling out of his pocket somewhere a big can of lighter fluid. He began to douse it.
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“I saw them go and put the match down to the flag. It’s soaked in lighter fluid at this time. Well, they can’t light it if they don’t have it. So I just scooped it up.
“My first thought was, ‘Is this on fire?’ Well, fortunately, it was not. I continue to run. One of the men threw the can of lighter fluid at me. We found out he was not a prospect. He did not have a good arm. Thank goodness.
* * *
“After the guys left, there was a buzz in the stands, people being aghast with what had taken place. Without being prompted, and I don’t know where it started, but people began to sing ‘God Bless America.’ When I reflect back upon it now, I still get goose bumps.”
Great stuff. Make sure to click on the links to hear the audio of Vin Scully with the call and see the photos.
It reminds me of something I once heard during all the debates about whether to amend the Constitution to prohibit flag burning. I have no idea whether there is even a grain of truth to it, but I heard that somewhere in Louisiana a local ordinance against flag burning had been struck down by the courts. Not to be deterred, the local legislators passed a new provision which made a five dollar fine the maximum penalty for assault upon someone burning a flag. The free speech rights of the flag burners were technically protected, and the situation would sort of work itself out naturally.
related articles
- Six Years Later: War, Not Tragedy (September 11th, 2007)
- Not Just Killing People and Breaking Things (July 16th, 2007)
- Fifteen Years Years Ago, Today (July 10th, 2007)
- Happy Fourth of July (July 4th, 2007)
- Five Years Later: Americans Trapped in Saudi Arabia (June 27th, 2007)
April 26th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
I had forgotten about that incident until I read about it in recent days and then it all came back. I’ve never been much of a Cubs fan, but I was that day.
As for the Louisiana story, I’m betting that’s true. Such profound examples of southern fried common sense are often found in these here parts.