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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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Former Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies manager Lee Elia, whose 1983 rant became fodder for sports-talk radio and social media for decades, died Wednesday. He was 87.
The Phillies announced Elia's death Thursday.
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A Philadelphia native and graduate of Olney High School, Elia signed with the Phillies in September 1958 after attending the University of Delaware. Traded to the White Sox in December 1964, he debuted with Chicago in April 1966.
Elia's major league playing career consisted of 95 games with the White Sox (1966) and Cubs (1968).
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After two seasons (1980-81) as the Phillies' third-base coach — the first of which ended in a World Series championship — Elia was named the Cubs' manager prior to the 1982 season. He guided Chicago to a 127-158 over the next two seasons.
Elia returned to Philadelphia as a bench coach in 1984. Midway through the 1987 season, Elia took over for John Feske as the Phillies' manager, and he continued as the skipper of his hometown team through the end of the 1988 season.
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Philadelphia went 111-142 under Elia in 1987-88. In September 1988, with the Phillies headed toward their worst season since 1972, Elia was fired and replaced on an interim basis with John Vukovich.
"I didn't anticipate it but I do understand it," Elia said at the time — only two months after he signed a contract extension. "It's the nature of the business."
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It was the last major league managerial job of Elia's career. He later held major league coaching jobs with New York Yankees (1989), Seattle Mariners (1993-97; 2001-02; 2008), Toronto Blue Jays (2000), Tampa Bay Rays (2003-05), and Baltimore Orioles (2006).
In 2010, Elia served as a special assistant to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti. He reprised a front-office assistant role with the Atlanta Braves in 2014.
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For all his contributions to baseball, Elia might be best remembered for losing his cool after a loss on April 29, 1983. It was the Cubs' 14th loss in their previous 19 games, and Elia was not happy with the perceived lack of support from fans.
"I'll tell you one f---ing thing, I hope we get f---ing hotter than s---, just to stuff it up them 3,000 f---ing people that show up every f---ing day, because if they're the real Chicago f---ing fans, they can kiss my f---ing ass right downtown and print it," began the monologue.
Elia apologized for his remarks afterward.
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