Former Cubs manager Lee Elia, who became an infamous part of baseball history following an epic rant in 1983, passed away Tuesday just shy of his 88th birthday.  Born in Philadelphia, Elia spent all of his short major league career in Chicago, in 1966 with the White Sox and in 1968 with the Cubs.  Following the end of his playing career, Elia was a coach for the Phillies in 1980 and 1981 under manager Dallas Green.  When Green was hired by the Tribune Company to be their new executive vice president and general manager for the recently acquired Cubs, he hired Elia to be the team’s new manager.

With an influx of former Phillies on the roster, the Cubs finished 73-89 in 1982, their first season under Elia.  1983 didn’t start much better and, after a tough 4-3 loss to the Dodgers dropped them to a 5-14 record on April 29th, Keith Moreland and Larry Bowa were verbally assaulted by a fan.  In his cramped office, with a small number of reporters peppering him with questions, Elia went off.  in his tirade, Elia had plenty to say about the denizens who took in day baseball every day.

What … what the fuck am I supposed to do? Go out there and let my fuckin’ players get destroyed every day, and be quiet about it? For the fuckin’ nickel/dime people that show up? The motherfuckers don’t even work! That’s why they’re out at the fuckin’ game! They ought to get a fuckin’ job and find out what it’s like to go out and earn a fuckin’ living. Eighty-five percent of the fuckin’ world is working. The other fifteen come out here.

Surprisingly, Elia survived the ordeal, but not the season.  He was fired on August 22nd after saying he had never heard of a Braves rookie, Gerald Perry, who had just gone 4-for-9 with a home run and six RBI in a three-game sweep.  Elia returned to the Phillies organization, managing in the minor leagues and rejoining the big-league club’s coaching staff.  In 1987, he was named manager of the Phillies, going 51-50 after taking over the club.  He was retained for 1988, but a 65–96 record and a last place finish in the NL East led to his dismissal.

Regardless of his success, or lack thereof, on the diamond, he will always be a baseball immortal thanks to his off-the-cuff remarks on a late April afternoon in the bowels of Wrigley Field.