Lee Elia
From Sports Library
Lee Constantine Elia (born July 16, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the bench coach for Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles. He previously was a manager of the Chicago Cubs (1982 - 1983) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1987 - 1988). Additionally, he has served as a coach for the Phillies, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Seattle Mariners.
Elia was a shortstop for Chicago White Sox in 1966 and a pinch hitter for the Cubs in 1968.
On April 29, 1983, during his tenure as the Cubs' manager, the Cubs suffered a one-run home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the game, he held a post-game press conference at which he lashed out in a profanity-laced tirade directed at the fans at Wrigley Field—which at that time featured only daytime games—for booing and heckling the team. Most memorably, he opined:
- Eighty-five percent of the fuckin' world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A fuckin' playground for the cocksuckers.[1]
His comments have reached near legendary status with Cubs fans. The team was 5-14 at that point, but Elia felt that they were a better team than they were getting credit for being.
The tirade nearly cost him his job, but he held on for nearly four more months until Dallas Green fired him in August.
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - managing record and playing statistics
- ESPN.com article: Elia's tirade becomes part of Cubs' lore
- The tirade (unedited)
- Elia on Wikipedia
| Preceded by Joey Amalfitano |
Chicago Cubs Manager 1982-1983 |
Succeeded by Charlie Fox |
| Preceded by John Felske |
Philadelphia Phillies Manager 1987-1988 |
Succeeded by John Vukovich |
