Lee Elia

Lee Constantine Elia (born July 16, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former professional baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball. He 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, Baltimore Orioles, and Seattle Mariners. November 2010 he was hired by the Atlanta Braves as a special assistant to general manager Frank Wren.

Playing career

Originally signed by the Phillies in 1959, Elia was sent to the Chicago White Sox organization in 1965, when he hit 29 home runs for AAA Indianapolis. In 1966, he split time at shortstop with Jerry Adair, batting .205 in 195 at-bats for the White Sox. Elia spent the rest of his playing career in the minor leagues, except for a stint as a pinch hitter for the Cubs in 1968.

Managerial career

Elia managed in the Phillies organization from 1975 through 1979. After the 1979 season, it was reported that Elia was considered for manager of the big league club, a job that eventually was kept by interim manager Dallas Green. Elia received his first big-league assignment when he was hired by Green to manage the Cubs in 1982. Chicago finished in fifth place in 1982, with a 73-89 record.

Elia is often remembered for a profanity-laced tirade directed at the fans at Wrigley Field on April 29, 1983. After the Cubs suffered a one-run home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Elia made post-game remarks to four reporters—the Chicago Tribune's Robert Marcus, the Chicago Sun-Times' Joel Behrig, the Daily Herald's Don Friske and WLS-AM's Les Grobstein (who recorded it, with the only microphone that was in the room) in which he blasted Cubs fans in the stands for booing and heckling the team:

“

I'll tell you one fuckin' thing - I hope we get fuckin' hotter than shit just to stuff it up them three thousand 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! They're really, really behind you around here. My fuckin' ass! What..what the fuck am I supposed to do? Go out there and get destroyed,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. A fuckin' playground for the cocksuckers. Rip them motherfuckers! Rip those country cocksuckers, like the fuckin' players! We've got guys bustin' their fuckin' asses and those fuckin' people boo...and that's the Cubs? My fuckin' ass! They talk about the great fuckin' support that the players get around here, I haven't seen it this fuckin' year! [1]

”

At that time, games at Wrigley Field were only held during the afternoon, as the stadium did not yet have lights; the team had a record of 5-14.

Elia continued to lead the Cubs until being fired on August 21, and was replaced by Charlie Fox, with the Cubs again in fifth, with a 54-69 mark. Ironically, Elia had been one of several Phillies' personnel brought to Chicago when Green was named Cubs general manager.

Elia got another chance to manage in the major leagues when he took over his old club, the Phillies, in 1987. After leading the team for parts of two seasons, he was fired in late 1988, with Philadelphia in last place with a 60-92 record.

Elia continued to lead Phillies minor-league teams, leading Clearwater to a Florida State League pennant in 1991 and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons to a International League division title the following year.

Most recently, Elia held three different coaching jobs with the Seattle Mariners during the 2008 season. During the 2007–08 offseason, he was named "special assistant to the manager" by then-manager John McLaren. He was then moved into the hitting coach position on June 9, 2008 upon the dismissal of Jeff Pentland. Less than two weeks later, with the dismissal of McLaren, he was promoted to bench coach, a position he held for the remainder of the 2008 season (Elia held the same position with the Mariners from 1993-1997). Elia was dismissed by the Mariners after the 2008 season. On January 25, 2009, the Los Angeles Dodgers hired him as a special assistant to General Manager Ned Colletti.

External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - managing record and playing statistics
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
• ESPN.com article: Elia's tirade becomes part of Cubs' lore

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
Preceded by Tom Trebelhorn	Baltimore Orioles Bench Coach 2006	Succeeded by Tom Trebelhorn
Preceded by Jeff Pentland	Seattle Mariners Hitting Coach 2008	Succeeded by
Preceded by Jim Riggleman	Seattle Mariners Bench Coach 2008	Succeeded by Ty Van Burkleo