(ED NOTE – On April 25, 1976, fans at Dodger Stadium paid to see a clash between Los Angeles and the Cubs, but an impromptu game of Capture The Flag broke out in the outfield. Ben Schwartz’ post on the subject was originally published in this space on 4/25/06)
30 years ago, former Cub Rick Monday saved an American flag from being burned on the field of Dodger Stadium. A legendary moment, recounted on the Cubs web site, but until now I never knew the important role Tommy Lasorda, then a Dodger 3rd base coach, almost played in Rick Monday’s heroic act. As Tommy modestly recounts:
“A lot of people don’t know this, but he beat me to the flag,” recalls Lasorda. “I saw Rick start running over from center field to left. I didn’t know what it was, but as soon as I saw him start, I took off and I ran out there, and of course, by that time, Rick had picked up the flag and continued running. When I got there, I see these two guys and I told them, ‘Why don’t one of you guys take a swing at me?’ because there were 50-something thousand people in the ballpark and I only wanted them to swing at me, so I could defend myself and do a job on them.”
Now you know the rest of the story …
I’m flattered to be reposted, Chief. My work to reestablish Tommy as the key player in Dodger history, in every single event of Dodger history, goes on. I’m working on a lead from Tommy himself that Branch Rickey only signed Jackie Robinson instead of Tommy as the first black player because Tommy held out an extra day for fair money.
Tommy Lasorda does not do push ups; he pushes the Earth down.
OK, I stole that from the Chuck Norris book, but it fits pretty well.