Rick Monday is a retired baseball player, more specifically a left fielder who batted left and threw left, who was voted an All Star twice, and who played in two World Series Championships during his 19 seasons. But the best play Monday ever made, the one he is famous for, happened during warm ups between the fourth and the fifth inning.

Forty-two years ago today, Monday sprinted from deep left to stop two protesters who had jumped the fence and who had planned to burn the American flag in the middle of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.