Cubs 1983 Season-Game 19
From Sports Library
Dodgers 4, Cubs 3
Wrigley Field
- WP: Alejandro Pena (3-1)
- LP: Bill Campbell (1-1)
The Cubs lost this game after blowing a 3-1 fifth inning lead. In the eighth inning, closer Lee Smith uncorked a wild pitch immediately upon coming in to relieve Bill Campbell, who had allowed a leadoff double to Ken Landreaux before inducing Dusty Baker to fly out to left fielder Jay Johnstone, which advanced Landreaux to third base. Smith's first pitch went past catcher Steve Lake, who came in at the start of the inning in a double-switch, and at the time was considered a defensive upgrade over starter Jody Davis.
Alejandro Pena finished the Cubs off in the eight and ninth inning, striking out Scott Thompson, the former super-prospect who had fallen to role player by 1983.
As the Cubs walked to the locker room (the entrance was in the left-field corner back then), those who remained from the announced crowd of 9,391 booed and jeered the Cubs. At the tail end of a media session, manager Lee Elia went into a profanity-saturated tirade, ripping the fans. "Eighty-five percent of the world's working. The other 15 come out here to watch day baseball," Elia said, with only WLS-AM broadcaster Les Grobstein, tape recorder in hand, to hear.
