OutKick Mourns The Loss Of Lee Elia

We lost a true legend, a man that OutKick could rally around, with the death of MLB lifer Lee Elia this week. Elia was 87. 

Yes, this man was known for the epic rant that has turned into OutKick's Lee Elia Day tradition around here, but over the course of the last couple of months, during numerous conversations I've had with his daughter, Tana Elia, I learned how much Lee was one of us. 

He got up every day, worked his ass off to put food on the table, provided a good life for his family and just happened to spend more than 50 years in Major League Baseball. 

Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Lee Elia passed away this week. He was 87. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

As her father neared death, Tana worried that the rant he went on 42 years ago would define him. It was a very troubling time for the family. Cubs fans, Tana explained, were relentless with vitriol towards her and her father.

Yes, it's going to be the focus of his life resume, I assured her. 

But, I added that it's going to be viewed through a modern lens. History is going to be kind. 

The Lee Elia rant is a cult classic. I assured Tana that the modern man views her father as a hero, a man who let it fly that day in 1983. They see themselves in Lee. He was in his mid-40s and fed up with the fans. 

Modern men wish they had a middle manager who would fight for them like Lee did that day when he went to war for his boys in that locker room. 

F--k those f--kin' fans who come out here and say they're Cub fans that are supposed to be behind you rippin' every f--kin' thing you do. I'll tell you one f--kin' thing, I hope we get f--kin' hotter than s--t, just to stuff it up them 3,000 f--kin' people that show up every f--kin' day, because if they're the real Chicago f--kin' fans, they can kiss my f--kin' ass right downtown and PRINT IT.

They're really, really behind you around here... my f--kin' ass. What the f--k am I supposed to do, go out there and let my f--kin' players get destroyed every day and be quiet about it? For the f--kin' nickel-dime people who turn up? The motherf--kers don't even work. That's why they're out at the f--kin' game. They oughta go out and get a f--kin' job and find out what it's like to go out and earn a f--kin' living. Eighty-five percent of the f--kin' world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here. A f--kin' playground for the c--ksuckers. Rip them motherf--kers. Rip them f--kin' c--ksuckers like the f--kin' players. 

We got guys bustin' their f--kin' ass, and them f--kin' people boo. And that's the Cubs? My players get around here. I haven't seen it this f--kin' year. Everybody associated with this organization have been winners their whole f--kin' life. Everybody. And the credit is not given in that respect.

Alright, they don't show because we're 5 and 14... and unfortunately, that's the criteria of them dumb 15 motherf--kin' percent that come out to day baseball. The other 85 percent are earning a living. I tell you, it'll take more than a 5 and 12 or 5 and 14 to destroy the makeup of this club. I guarantee you that. There's some f--kin' pros out there that wanna win. But you're stuck in a f--kin' stigma of the f--kin' Dodgers and the Phillies and the Cardinals and all that cheap s--t. It's unbelievable. It really is. It's a disheartening f--kin' situation that we're in right now. Anybody who was associated with the Cub organization four or five years ago that came back and sees the multitude of progress that's been made will understand that if they're baseball people, that 5 and 14 doesn't negate all that work. We got 143 f--kin' games left.

What I'm tryin' to say is don't rip them f--kin' guys out there. Rip me. If you wanna rip somebody, rip my f--kin' ass. But don't rip them f--kin' guys 'cause they're givin' everything they can give. And right now they're tryin' to do more than God gave 'em, and that's why we make the simple mistakes. That's exactly why."  

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The Lee Elia story can teach us many lessons. He was fired soon after the classic rant. Eventually, he landed the managerial role in Philadelphia, his hometown. It didn't go well, and, at the end of the 1988 season, Elia was fired again. 

Did he go home and call it a career? Hell no, Lee got his ass in gear, found a job with the Yankees in 1989 and never stopped coaching until one final stint with the Mariners in 2008. 

Let this sink in: Elia signed with the Phillies as a player in 1958. 

After leaving coaching in 2008, the Braves brought him on as a special assistant in 2010. 

The Lee Elia story will continue to be told around here because OutKick believes there's a little bit of Lee Elia in all of us. We believe that hard work, raising great families and being an asset to society is an admirable life. 

Long live Lee Elia. 

We will never forget.