Lee Elia, former major league
manager known for profane rant, dies at 87
[July 11, 2025]
By The Associated Press
Lee Elia, a former major league player and coach who was managing
the Chicago Cubs in 1983 when he famously criticized the team's fans
in a memorable postgame rant, has died. He was 87.
The Philadelphia Phillies said Elia died on Wednesday. No further
details were provided by the team.
Elia, a Philadelphia native, had a 238-300 record in four seasons as
a big league manager, two with the Cubs and two with the Phillies.
He was a shortstop during his playing career, batting .203 with
three homers and 25 RBIs in 95 games with the White Sox and Cubs.
On April 29, 1983, Elia was the skipper for the Cubs when they
dropped to 5-14 with a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The
Wrigley Field crowd of 9,391 threw garbage at Keith Moreland and
Larry Bowa as the Cubs made their way to the clubhouse.
Elia responded with an expletive-filled rant that lives on in
censored versions still being played on various programs years
later. As part of his remarks, he declared that 85% of the world is
working and that “the other 15 come out here.”
Back then, there were no lights at Wrigley Field and the Cubs played
only day games at home.
“At the moment, it was very, very difficult,” Elia said 25 years
later while revisiting that day as part of a charity drive. “But you
sit here and you’re 70 years old and you look at it and you say to
yourself, ‘You know, yeah, it was unfortunate.’ But for crying out
loud, we’re human beings and you make mistakes sometimes.”
Elia, who went to the University of Delaware, managed the Phillies
in 1987 and 1988. He was the third base coach when the Phillies won
the 1980 World Series.
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Chicago Cub's catcher Jody Davis, left, pitcher Lee Smith, and
manager Lee Elia, right, are enthusiastic in the dugout following
the Cub's 8,000 victory in its history, won over the Houston Astros
May 14, 1982 in Houston. (AP Photo/F. Carter Smith, File)
“Affiliated with 10 different organizations
throughout his distinguished career, he always considered himself a
Phillie at heart,” the Phillies said in their statement.
Elia also worked for the Seattle Mariners from 1993-97, 2001-02 and
in 2008 as a hitting coach, bench coach and special assistant to the
field manager.
Seattle manager Dan Wilson, who played for the Mariners from 1994 to
2005, called Elia a special man and coach.
“Lee really taught me how to play in the big leagues,” Wilson said
Thursday. “He taught me how to hit in the big leagues. He was like a
father to me in the game and just really dearly missed. He treated
everybody with so much love. When you’re called and referred to as
Uncle Lee, he made a lot of impressions with people and that’s how
he was known to us and we are going to miss him dearly.”
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