#43 06/06/00 – Angel Stadium - Birth of the Rally Monkey

With the Angels down by three runs to the visiting Giants in the bottom of the sixth, a couple of Angels’ staffers put a clip of a monkey jumping up and down on the JumboTron and labeled it “Rally Monkey.” Naturally, the Angels rallied.

With one out, Darin Erstad singled. He hustled into third on Kevin Stocker’s single. He then scored on Mo Vaughn’s groundout. The Giants got out of the inning, and scored one in the top of the seventh to push the lead back up to three (4-1).

But the Monkey made an appearance again the next inning, and so did the Angels’ bats. Garret Anderson singled. Troy Glaus drew a walk. Bengie Molina lined a single into left-center scoring G.A. After a pair of strikeouts, Erstad singled to center to plate Glaus, narrowing the gap to one, 4-3.

In the eighth, the Angels struck again. This time Tim Salmon got the monkey off his back by blasting a home run to left-center, tying the game. The Giants took the lead again in the top of the ninth, setting up the final comeback of the night.

With the Monkey whipping the fans into a frenzy, Adam Kennedy stroked a one out single to left off ace closer Rob Nen. Scott Spiezio took a free pass. Erstad then cranked out his third single of the night, driving in Kennedy. Spiezio advanced to third, but was cut down at the plate on a fielder’s choice to the pitcher. With two outs, Vaughn lined one into right. Erstad scampered home with the winning run of the 6-5 victory.

It was the first of many Monkey-inspired victories. Since then, the Angels’ promotional department created a whole series of movie clips starring the Rally Monkey – from Star Wars to Batman to Gilligan’s Island. Stuffed Rally Monkeys became one of the hottest selling items at Angel Stadium. Rules were developed about when the Monkey could be used - in the 7^th inning or later of a home game in which the Angels have a runner on while either tied or losing. Under those conditions, most teams could expect to lose, which makes the Monkey’s spectacular success in such situations that much more amazing. The Monkey became a national icon while inspiring 27 wins in the 2002 season alone, including 6 huge victories during their miraculous postseason.