Lee Elia Spent 50 Years in Baseball but Will Always Be Remembered for One Angry Outburst

Former MLB player, coach, manager and front office official Lee Elia passed away on July 9th at the age of 87.

A minor league infielder for a dozen seasons, Elia briefly played for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox in 1966 and 1968, respectively. 

Elia began his managerial career in the Philadelphia Phillies before being promoted to the major league coaching staff under Dallas Green in 1980. This proved to be fortuitous as the Phillies would win their first ever World Series title. The Phillies would make the post-season the following year but would be stopped by the Montreal Expos in the NLDS. 

When Green took over as general manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1982, he brought Elia along with him to become the team's new manager. Elia would last less than two seasons on the job. More on that later.

Elia returned to the Phillies in 1984 and would get another chance at managing during the 1987 season and manage the team through the 1988 season. In 1989, Elia would reunite with Green when he was hired to manage the New York Yankees. On three separate occasions, Elia was part of the Seattle Mariners coaching staff. Elia also served as a coach with the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Baltimore Orioles before ending his professional career in the front office of the Atlanta Braves in the early 2010s. 

Although Elia spent 50 years in baseball, he is remembered for an angry outburst while managing the Cubs early in the 1983 following loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he ripped Cubs fans. Here is but a sample:

Fuck those fuckin’ fans who come out here and say they’re Cub fans that are supposed to be behind you rippin’ every fuckin’ thing you do. I’ll tell you one fuckin’ thing, I hope we get fuckin’ hotter than shit, just to stuff it up them 3,000 fuckin’ people that show up every fuckin’ day, because if they’re the real Chicago fuckin’ fans, they can kiss my fuckin’ ass right downtown and PRINT IT.

You get the idea. But if you don't then you can hear it in its entirety.  

No one remembers Elia's apology.

How could they? It was the beginning of the end for Elia in Chicago, and he would be fired that August replaced by Charlie Fox. Of course, the Cubs would win the NL East in 1984 under Jim Frey playing October baseball for the first team in 39 years. In parts of four seasons, Elia's managerial record was 238-300.

If there hadn't been a recording of the incident would anyone have remembered Lee Elia's lengthy baseball service? R.I.P.