Lee Elia’s rant, 40 years later: How Cubs manager’s 3-minute tirade became one of the most infamous speeches in history
CHICAGO — “I guess I lost it,” Chicago Cubs manager Lee Elia told reporters on April 29, 1983, hours after he made an epic rant ripping the team’s fans — a three-minute tirade peppered with more than 50 profane words including 30 “F-bombs.”
Only a few reporters were present when Elia delivered the diatribe, but it soon became legendary after WSCR-AM 670 personality Les Grobstein captured it in full on his tape recorder.
As the Chicago Tribune would later point out, Elia used four-letter words, 10-letter words and 12-letter words. These words are so filthy, even 40 years later, that Tribune editors will only allow an edited version to be included here. But unedited versions are out there — just Google Elia’s name.
“It sounded like I was cursing the entire Cub kingdom,” Elia told the Tribune in 1987. “But that’s not true.”
Here’s a look back at how Elia’s managerial frustration became one of the most infamous speeches in sports history — and the fallout.
Who is Lee Elia?
A native of Philadelphia, Elia was a journeyman shortstop who spent most of his playing days in the minor leagues — except for 80 games with the White Sox in 1966 and 15 with the Cubs in 1968.
“I can’t hit the ball out of this park. I’m not even going to try,” he told the Tribune about
