Rick Monday played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member of the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he won a World Series championship in 1981.
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22 Facts About Rick Monday
2.
Rick Monday is notable for being the first player selected in the inaugural 1965 Major League Baseball draft as well as for a 1976 incident in which he prevented a flag from being burned on the field at Dodger Stadium.
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3.
Rick Monday was offered a $20,000 signing bonus by Tommy Lasorda who was a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time however, he was convinced to accept a scholarship to play for Arizona State University after Sun Devils coach Bobby Winkles, an Arkansas native himself, drew upon their shared roots and promised Monday's Arkansas-born mother that he would take care of her son.
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4.
Rick Monday joined the Arizona State Sun Devils team that included future major league players Sal Bando and Duffy Dyer.
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5.
Rick Monday led the Sun Devils to the 1965 College World Series championship and earned College Player of the Year honors.
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6.
Rick Monday was the first overall selection in the inaugural Major League First-Year Player Draft in 1965 by the Kansas City Athletics.
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7.
Rick Monday began his professional career in the Single-A Northwest League with the Lewiston Broncs in Lewiston, Idaho.
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8.
Rick Monday played the 1966 season with the Mobile As of the Double-A Southern League in Mobile, Alabama.
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9.
Rick Monday was with the A's through 1971, their first as American League West champions.
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10.
In January 1977, Rick Monday was traded in a five-player deal to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bill Buckner and Ivan DeJesus.
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11.
Rick Monday hit 11 home runs against Seaver, more than any other player, and batted.
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13.
Rick Monday has been offered up to $1 million to sell it but has declined all offers.
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14.
When Rick Monday was mostly a utility player he played a role in the deciding Game 5 of the NLCS at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
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15.
Rick Monday's home run dashed what turned out to be the Expos' only chance at a pennant in their 36-year history in the National League representing Montreal.
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16.
Rick Monday began in 1985 by hosting the pregame show and calling play-by-play on cable TV.
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17.
From 1989 to 1992, Rick Monday moved farther south to call San Diego Padres games alongside Jerry Coleman, replacing outgoing announcer Dave Campbell.
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18.
Rick Monday was a sports anchor at KTTV for a time in the 1980s.
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19.
Rick Monday rejoined the Dodgers in 1993, replacing Don Drysdale who died suddenly from a heart attack in his hotel room on a Dodger road trip in Montreal.
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20.
From 2005 to 2008, Rick Monday mostly handled the analyst role, with Charley Steiner handling most of the play-by-play, except during road trips outside of the National League West division, during which Steiner broadcast the games on television and Rick Monday handled the radio play-by-play, usually with Jerry Reuss as his analyst.
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21.
In 2009, Steiner and Rick Monday began covering all games on radio, with Eric Collins doing TV play-by-play for games not covered by Scully.
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22.
When Steiner replaced Collins on the road TV broadcasts in 2014, Rick Monday switched over to the play-by-play duties alongside Nomar Garciaparra.
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