You think Lou Piniella has tantrums? You think Tony La Russa gets ornery with the press? They pale in comparison to the master, Lee Elia. We're a day late from hitting the relevance on the head, but as Ben Maller points out, yesterday marked the 24th anniversary of Elia's famous tirade to reporters about Wrigley Field's bleacher bums.
(Warning: lots and lots of explicit language is in the following clip -- 43 curse words in three minutes, to be exact -- but that's kind of the point, really.)
"The MF'ers don't even work! That's why they're out at the F-ing game! ... Eight-five percent of the F-ing world is working -- the other fifteen come out here!"
Can you imagine a manager calling out the fan base like that today? I'm not sure if he'd even make it out of the clubhouse before getting canned. Elia kept his job, though, at least for a little while: he was eventually fired later that summer after posting a 54-69 record.
Elia is still in baseball, bouncing around various organizations as a coach and scout (most recently serving as Baltimore's bench coach last year), but I'm guessing his bosses these days try to keep him as far away from the media -- and season ticket holders -- as possible.
Celebrating the Last of the Real Tantrums
Apr 30, 2007 – 3:40 PM
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