Monday was in the midst of his five-year tenure with the Chicago Cubs after coming over from his original team, the Oakland (Kansas City) A’s.
A solid player who also gained some attention for his flag-saving maneuver in the outfield one day when some clowns were trying to burn an American flag, Monday was in his prime when this card would have been pulled from packs in that glorious Summer of 1975.
After putting in some good seasons with the A’s between 19666 and 1971, Monday was traded for pitcher Ken Holtzman over the Winter of 1971/72, and he didn’t disappoint the Cubs’ faithful, averaging about 20 homers a season with about 60 runs batted in.
He had his best season in Chicago in 1976 when he slammed a career-high 32 homers with 77 RBIs, which got him traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers which netted the Cubs future batting champ Bill Buckner and infielder Ivan DeJesus.
He’d go on to play the last eight seasons of his career in L.A., retiring after the 1984 campaign with a career .264 average, with 1619 hits and 241 homers, along with 775 RBIs and 950 runs scored, while being a part of the World Champion 1981 Dodger team.
One of the better overall #1 picks from the draft for sure!
