Walter William "Chip" Hale (born December 2, 1964) is an American professional baseball infielder, coach, and manager. Hale played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1989 through 1997, and managed in MLB from 2015 through 2016. He was named head coach of the Arizona Wildcats of the University of Arizona in July 2021.

Chip Hale
Hale in 2015
Born
Walter William Hale

(1964-12-02) December 2, 1964 (age 59)

Baseball career
Infielder / Manager / Coach
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 27, 1989, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
May 4, 1997, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics
Batting average.277
Home runs7
Runs batted in78
Managerial record148–176
Winning %.457
Teams
As player
As manager
As coach
Career highlights and awards
Coaching career
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamArizona Wildcats
ConferencePac-12
Record82–63
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2022–PresentArizona Wildcats
Head coaching record
Overall82–63 (.566)
TournamentsNCAA: 2–2

Hale played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, mostly as a second baseman and third baseman.[1] He became a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007, then later on was named team manager for 2015-2016 and also served as a coach for the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, and Detroit Tigers.

Playing career edit

Born in San Jose, California, Hale played baseball for Campolindo High School in Moraga, California.[2] He attended the University of Arizona, where he played college baseball for the Arizona Wildcats. He was a part of the 1986 College World Series champions. He also set school records in hits and walks for a career.[3] In 1984 and 1985, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star in 1985.[4][5]

The Minnesota Twins selected Hale in the 17th round, with the 425th overall selection, of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft.[1] Hale made his major league debut with the Twins in 1989, and played in parts of six seasons with the team. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent prior to the 1997 season, then appeared in only 14 games for the team, in what would be his final major league season.[1]

Hale is associated with one of the most famous bloopers in baseball history.[6] On May 27, 1991, while playing for the Class AAA Portland Beavers, Hale hit a deep fly ball to right field where Vancouver Canadians outfielder Rodney McCray ran through the outfield wall attempting to catch the ball.[7]

Coaching career edit

Hale joined the Arizona Diamondbacks organization as the manager of the Missoula Osprey for the 2000 season.[8] He managed the El Paso Diablos in 2002 and the Tucson Sidewinders from 2004 to 2006.[9] Under Hale's leadership the minor league Sidewinders finished the regular season with a record of 91–53, a new franchise record; and Hale was named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year.[10][11][2]

 
Hale with the Nationals

For the 2007 Major League Baseball season, Hale served as a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks under manager Bob Melvin.[12][13][2][14]

In 2009, Hale was hired as the third base coach for the New York Mets.[15][12] He was a candidate to become manager of the Mets after Jerry Manuel was fired at the end of the 2010 season;[16] however, the position went to Terry Collins.

On October 5, 2011, Hale signed a two-year deal to become bench coach of the Oakland Athletics.[17][12] On the same day, the Mets announced that Hale would not be returning to the league club for the 2012 season and would be replaced by Tim Teufel.[18]

On May 29, 2013, Hale was ejected for the first time in his MLB playing or coaching career for arguing a spectator interference and runner placement call. Brian Knight was the ejecting umpire.[12][19]

Hale then went back to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2015 and 2016 seasons as the club's manager, compiling a 148–176 record.[20][12] He was fired from the managerial position on October 3, 2016.[21]

Hale was re-hired by the Oakland Athletics on October 18, 2016, this time as the team's third-base coach.[22][12]

Then, in November 2017, the Washington Nationals hired Hale as their bench coach.[23][12] On October 29, 2019, in Game 6 of the World Series, he became the acting manager for the Nationals after Dave Martinez was ejected in the 7th inning. Hale and the Nationals maintained their lead, garnering a 7-2 win to force a Game 7, thus paving the way to winning the franchise’s first World Championship, the following night.[24]

On November 7, 2020, Hale was named the third base coach for the Detroit Tigers.[25][26]

On July 5, 2021, Hale left the Tigers so he could become the head baseball coach at the University of Arizona.[27]

Managerial record edit

As of games played 2019.[28]
Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
ARZ 2015 162 79 83 .488 3rd in NL West
ARZ 2016 162 69 93 .426 4th in NL West
Total 324 148 176 .457 0 0 .000

Head coaching record edit

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Arizona Wildcats (Pac-12 Conference) (2022–present)
2022 Arizona 39–25 16–14 5th NCAA Regional
2023 Arizona 33–26 12–18 8th NCAA Regional
2024 Arizona 16–13 9–5
Arizona: 88–64 (.579) 36–37 (.493)
Total: 88–64 (.579)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Chip Hale Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Chip Hale". thebaseballcube.com. The Baseball Cube. 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  3. ^ "Bickley: Rookie manager Chip Hale making his presence felt with the Diamondbacks".
  4. ^ "D-backs tab former Orleans infielder Hale as manager". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  5. ^ "Cape League Wrapup". Barnstable Patriot. Barnstable, MA. July 11, 1985. p. 9.
  6. ^ Video of ex-Met Rodney McCray's crash through Portland's Civic Stadium featured at Hall of Fame
  7. ^ Player who ran through fence will get bobblehead
  8. ^ "Osprey name new coach".
  9. ^ "Former Osprey Manager Chip Hale Named D-backs Skipper".
  10. ^ "Sidewinders Honored with Team of the Year Trophy". emol.org/tucsonsidewinders. Tucson Sidewinders. January 18, 2007. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  11. ^ "D-Backs Manager and Coaches". arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com. Arizona Diamondbacks. 2007. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "Chip Hale". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet. 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  13. ^ Manager of Sidewinders
  14. ^ "Chip Hale Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  15. ^ "Mets name Dave Jauss bench coach and Chip Hale third base coach". Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  16. ^ Martino, Andy (November 18, 2010). "Mets will decide on manager by Sunday or Monday". nydailynews.com. New York: New York Daily News. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  17. ^ "#Athletics sign Chip Hale to a two-year deal as bench coach on Bob Melvin’s staff. He was the Mets’ 3B and infield coach the past two years"
  18. ^ Cerrone, Matthew (October 5, 2011). "Recap: Mets change coaching staff, Hale goes to A's". MetsBlog.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  19. ^ "MLB Ejection 048: Brian Knight (2; Chip Hale)." Close Call Sports/Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. May 30, 2013.
  20. ^ "Chip Hale, Dave Stewart Fired by Diamondbacks: Latest Comments, Reaction". Bleacher Report.
  21. ^ "Diamondbacks fire GM Dave Stewart, manager Chip Hale". sportsnet.ca. Phoenix, Arizona: Sportsnet. Associated Press. October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  22. ^ Hickey, John (October 18, 2016). "A's hire ex-Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale as third base coach". mercurynews.com. The Mercury News. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  23. ^ Janes, Chelsea (November 8, 2017). "Nationals hire former manager Chip Hale as bench coach". Washington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  24. ^ Svrluga, Barry (October 30, 2019). "WORLD SERIES CHAMPS". Washington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  25. ^ Petzold, Evan (November 7, 2020). "Detroit Tigers hire three coaches: George Lombard, Scott Coolbaugh, Chip Hale". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  26. ^ Beck, Jason (November 7, 2020). "Tigers add bench, hitting, 3B coaches". MLB.com. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  27. ^ "Chip Hale Leaves Tigers to Become Head Coach at Arizona".
  28. ^ "Chip Hale Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.

External links edit

Sporting positions
Preceded by Missoula Osprey manager
2000–2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by El Paso Diablos manager
2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by Tucson Sidewinders manager
2004–2006
Succeeded by
Preceded by Arizona Diamondbacks third base coach
2007–2009
Succeeded by
Preceded by New York Mets third base coach
2010–2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by Oakland Athletics bench coach
2012–2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Oakland Athletics third base coach
2017
Succeeded by
Preceded by Washington Nationals bench coach
2018–2019
Succeeded by
Preceded by Washington Nationals third base coach
2020
Succeeded by
Preceded by Detroit Tigers third base coach
2021
Succeeded by