LEE ELIA TIRADE
Elia’s outburst occurred on April 29, 1983, after the Cubs suffered a one-run home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The rant took place during a postgame session with reporters in his office. Elia was off at the continual booing by the Wrigley crowd (both during and after the game) and frustrated that no one could see beyond the Cubs’ 5-14 record for any of the progress he felt the team was making.
The fact that Elia’s rant has been preserved for posterity is something of a miracle. In the early 80s, “baseball reporters didn’t work with tape recorders. But radio guys certainly did. So it was that Elia’s outburst came to be a part of the public domain.”
Les Grobstein, aka “ubiquitous” Les, was lurking on the edges of Elia’s office, with tape rolling. For Grobstein, graduate of Chicago’s Von Stuben High School, “it was his Zapruder moment.” Elia commented that he dearly wished Grobstein “had gotten a flat tire on his way to Wrigley that afternoon.”
Elia clearly regrets his ourburst. “I made some comments that I don’t even know how they came out of my mouth, because they were not comments that I normally would make. Never in my wildest dreams did I think somebody would run out of there and put it on the air.”
1983 turned out to be Elia’s final year as the Cubs’ manager. Many have argued that Grobstein’s tape sealed upper management’s decision to fire Elia. Grobstein heartily disagrees. He commented recently that “the tirade and my tape did not get Lee Elia fired - the team starting to suck again did.”
Whatever the case, the tirade is now 25 years old, solidly entrenched in the firmament of baseball lore…and is TOTALLY AWESOME.
Enjoy.
Duration : 0:3:11
are you …
are you kidding me? you people are all retarted, ignorant, ass-wipes! give me nine AJ perzinskis. . . haha thats laughable. That statement furthers the ideas that sox fans in general are ignorant to the game of baseball and a bunch of hillbilly scum bums
Thanks for the post …
Thanks for the post, nice to hear some genuine stuff, so rare nowadays!
HEY! U ! MSG me on …
HEY! U ! MSG me on MSN. ID is in my profile. j
cubs suck.. you …
cubs suck.. you cant argue that
Hey loser…how did …
Hey loser…how did those playoffs turnout for you…bwaaahahaha!
As I told you before, wins in June mean NOTHING in October.
CUBS=CAN USUALLY BE SWEPT
deal with it
haha cubs suck so …
haha cubs suck so bad it makes me laugh
Ha Ha, that was …
Ha Ha, that was hilarious!!! Cubs fans are losers…
This video is what …
This video is what I think about all of those hoosier cubs fans! Thank you Lee Elia for the truth about these red neck fucks!
shut the up …
shut the up who had a better year more wins
its sad you know, …
its sad you know, an entire generation of cubs fans now, when will it stop. that was a great team on paper, they got rotated. none of my teams vikings, mariners, canucks have ever won, but i still cant compare what cubs fans went through. Chicago is a cubs city no? it sucks
At least the …
At least the sox-siders live to fight another day. It’s about heart. Just like Lee Elia said…..”its a disheartening situation.”
AJ can play for me any day. Gimme 9 Pierzinski’s and I’ll give you a penant!
B
Sing it Lee. I’m so …
Sing it Lee. I’m so off right now its not a curse its not about some silly friggen billy goat. Its poor management. And now their batters and pitching are up BIG TIME BAD
Wrigley Field …
Wrigley Field should be in the Guiness book of records for the World’s largest Gaybar.
…and to this day, …
…and to this day, Lee Elia is still right.
Lee Elia was the …
Lee Elia was the Cubs manager when he said this, I’ll take his word for it, LOL
I COULD MAKE IT …
I COULD MAKE IT CLEAR GO DODGERS BITCH
umm… yeah the …
umm… yeah the record of your team is the criteria on how successful/good they are. what other barometer should we use? You made a good hire in the marketing department of the organization?? Pat yourself on the back.
100 years…100 …
100 years…100 tears
no doubt my friend. …
no doubt my friend… no doubt
Cubs curse is alive …
Cubs curse is alive and well
CUBS RULE! ALL …
CUBS RULE! ALL YOU HATERS
omg im surpised you …
omg im surpised you found it important enough to look up the date. and who cares what they did the last hundred years all that matters is this year
sounds like he …
sounds like he could be talking about the hometown sports fans in philly too, lol!
LOL! I adore this …
LOL! I adore this man! REAL Cubs fans are cool, but the rest of you asshats should listen to this and take a hint.
You right we …
You right we wouldn’t. No Yankees fan roots for the Mets, myself included. And I know no Mets fan supports the Yankees.