Lee Elia, manager of Cubs and Phillies, dies at 87

Lee Elia, who managed the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies in a professional baseball career that lasted more than 50 years as a coach and player, died Wednesday at the age of 87, the Phillies announced Thursday.

"Elia was a valued contributor to the Phillies for much of his half century in professional baseball," the team said in a statement. "The third base coach for the 1980 World Series championship team, he also spent time in the organization as a minor league player, manager, scout and director of instruction.

"Affiliated with 10 different organizations throughout his distinguished career, he always considered himself a Phillie at heart."

Elia landed his first managerial job in 1982 with the Cubs at age 44. In his two seasons with the Cubs, Elia went 127-158, but he was most remembered for his expletive-filled rant directed at booing Cubs fans just 19 games into the 1983 season.

The Philadelphia native managed the Phillies during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, going 111-142-1 for a total managerial record of 238-300-1 (.442) over four seasons.

After signing with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1958, Elia made his major league debut as a shortstop for the Chicago White Sox in April 1966 and played in 80 games. The Cubs purchased his contract in May 1967, and he played in 15 games in the 1968 season. He batted a combined .203 with three home runs and 25 RBIs in 95 MLB games.

Elia, born July 16, 1937, also coached and served in other capacities with the Phillies, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles between 1980 and 2008.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.