Baseball can be a very emotional game, and sometimes someone will just blow up for no apparent reason. Probably the most famous explosion in recent years involved Lee Elia, who went into a tirade one day while he was managing the Chicago Cubs. Talk about being out of character. If you saw Lee in a grocery store or at a movie, you would think of him as a nice neighbor, the father of the well-behaved kids next door. If you needed to borrow a hedge trimmer, he would be the first guy you would think of asking. It’s hard to believe this guy would blow up.

He really exploded. The Cubs got off to a horrible start, with a 4–13 record, and the boo birds came out in full force. Lee lost it during a postgame interview.

“We’ve got these so-called fucking fans, who come out here every day and say they’re Cub fans, and they’re supposed to be behind you, but they’re ripping everything you do,” he started. “I’ll tell you one fucking thing. I hope we get fucking hotter than shit just to shove it up the 3,000 fucking people who show up here every day.”

Then he got angry.

“If they’re a real fucking Chicago fan, they can kiss my fucking ass right downtown. And print it. They’re really behind you around here . . . What am I supposed to do, let my fucking players get destroyed every day and be quiet about it?”

Then he got very angry.

“The motherfuckers don’t even work. That’s why they’re out at the fucking game. They ought to go out and get a fucking job and find out what it’s like to earn a fucking living. Eighty-five percent of the world’s working. The other fifteen come out here.”