He had a decades-long career in baseball.
Lee Elia, who managed the Cubs in 1982 and 1983, passed away Wednesday, a week before he would have turned 88.
The Cubs issued the following statement:
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 10, 2025
I’ll just get this out of the way right now. Here’s a link to Elia’s famous rant in April 1983 (NSFW!), which I’m not going to embed — if you want to hear it, go to the link.
Lee Elia was so much more than that as a baseball man. A native of Philadelphia, he played college ball at the University of Delaware and signed with his hometime Phillies in 1958. Six years later he was traded to the White Sox, and he played 80 games for them in 1966 as a backup shortstop. The Cubs acquired him for cash considerations in 1967 and he played in 15 games for them in 1968, mostly as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement.
He went just 3-for-17 as a Cub, but one of those hits was memorable — a 13th-inning game-winning single against the Cardinals in a 6-5 win, Aug. 4, 1968.
A game-winning hit against the Cardinals. That should give you a smile. Elia is one of 209 men to have played for both the Cubs and White Sox.
Elia was traded to the Yankees in April 1969 for Nate Oliver, but he never played for them in the major leagues. He played Triple-A ball until 1973 and in 1980, became the bench coach for the Phillies under manager Dallas Green. He managed the Cubs in 1982 and 1983 and was fired by Green, not for the rant, but because a member of the Braves, Gerald Perry, had a huge weekend against the Cubs and when asked about Perry, Elia said he’d “never heard of him.”
Eventually Elia made it back to his hometown and managed the Phillies in 1987 and 1988. Here’s what he said about the rant when he first returned to Wrigley as a Phillies coach in 1985:
“Lord knows I’ve always felt the most beautiful thing in this game is the roar of the crowd,” he said. “There were probably 1,800 or 2,000 people there that day, and I was unhappy with the four who threw beer on Keith Moreland and the other section that was getting on Larry Bowa.
“It didn’t come out that way, and I have nobody to blame but myself for that, but it is so out of proportion now.”
Elia also coached with the Mariners and with another Cubs manager, Lou Piniella, with the Rays. He also managed for a long time in the Phillies minor league system, a baseball life that lasted more than 50 years. Elia was a good man who should be remembered for his love of baseball and his family, including his daughter Tana, who emailed me a couple of times thanking me for writing nice things about her dad. Here’s a statement summing up Elia’s baseball life from Mariners manager Dan Wilson:
“Lee was special,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a statement released by the Mariners. “Baseball has lost a giant. A great baseball man and an even better human. He was like a father to me and taught me how to be a big leaguer. Known to most of us as Uncle Lee for his kind demeanor and the love he showed everyone. We will all miss him dearly.”
Sincere condolences to Elia’s family, friends, teammates and fans.