Lee Elia rants against Cubs fans ... but defends his players

On Friday, April 29, 1983, the Cubs lost to the Dodgers. Their record dropped to 5-14 with the loss. After the game, Chicago manager Lee Elia, talking to reporters, let loose on Cubs fans, exploding with anger. His rant went on for three minutes, but the beginning of it has become the part that's remembered:

We’ve got these so-called fucking fans, who come out here every day and say they’re Cub fans, and they’re supposed to be behind you, but they’re ripping everything you do ... The motherfuckers don’t even work. That’s why they’re out at the fucking game. They ought to go out and get a fucking job and find out what it’s like to earn a fucking living. Eighty-five percent of the world’s working. The other fifteen come out here.

And he was just getting started.

But what's left out of most accounts of the incident, or cut out of most recordings, was Elia's passionate defense of his players. That came after he ripped the fans, and besides backing his players, who he said were busting their butts every day, he took responsibility for the team's performance, saying (this is a paraphrase), "If you're going to blame anybody, blame me!"

It's understandable why Elia was peeved at Cubs fans. Back then, Wrigley Field wasn't a shrine -- it was just an old ballpark. And the fact was that Chicago's attendance was dismal: that Friday they drew 9,391, which was spectacular compared to the previous day's attendance of 3,383. On Opening Day, which the Cubs played at home with Ferguson Jenkins pitching, only 4,802 showed up. Pretty pathetic.

According to Jim Ksicinski and Tom Flaherty, who write about Elia in Jocks and Socks, Elia was normally a mild-mannered man, and took some pride when they played him a tape of his tirade.

The Cubs didn't improve much after Elia's outburst, finishing fifth place in the NL East with a 71-91 record. Elia didn't make it to the end of the season. He was replaced by Charlie Fox after 123 games. After leading the Cubs to two fifth-place finishes in 1982 and 1983, he took over the Phillies helm in 1987 and 1988, bringing them home in fourth and sixth place. 

Lee Elia rant (mp3 file)

Comments

[formulaben]

Holy shit, that's fucking classic. Beautiful. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!