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. Hale played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, mostly as a second baseman and third baseman. He became a coach for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in 2007, and has since served as a coach for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He managed the Diamondbacks in 2015 and 2016.

Playing career

Born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, Hale played baseball for

Campolindo High School Campolindo High School is a public high school located in Moraga, California, United States, and is in the Acalanes Union High School District. In 2019, Campolindo was ranked 30th in California (and 239th nationally) by '' U.S. News & World Re ...

Moraga, California Moraga is a town in Contra Costa County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The town is named in honor of Joaquín Moraga, member of the famed Californio family. As of 2020, Moraga had a total population of 16,870 people. Moraga is ...

. He attended the University of Arizona, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the Arizona Wildcats. He was a part of the

1986 College World Series The 1986 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1986 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, ...

champions. He also set school records in hits and walks for a career. In 1984 and 1985, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

and was named a league all-star in 1985. The Minnesota Twins selected Hale in the 17th round, with the 425th overall selection, of the

1987 Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional cont ...

. Hale made his major league debut with the Twins in , and played in parts of six seasons with the team. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

prior to the season, and appeared in 14 games for the Dodgers, in what would be his final major league season. Hale is associated with one of the most famous

bloopers A blooper is a short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms o ...

in baseball history. On May 27, 1991, while playing for the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

, Hale hit a deep fly ball to

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

where

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium. ...

outfielder Rodney McCray ran through the outfield wall attempting to catch the ball.

Coaching career

Hale joined the

organization as the manager of the

Missoula Osprey The Missoula PaddleHeads are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Missoula, Montana, and play their home games at Ogren Park ...

for the 2000 season. He managed the

El Paso Diablos "El Paso Diablos" refers to two different professional baseball teams based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The most recent Diablos were a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, whi ...

in 2002 and the

Tucson Sidewinders , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

from 2004 to 2006. Under Hale's leadership the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

Sidewinders finished the regular season with a record of 91–53, a new franchise record; and Hale was named

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Manager of the Year. Chiphale1964stl

For the 2007 Major League Baseball season, Hale served as a coach for the

under manager

Bob Melvin Robert Paul Melvin (born October 28, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player and coach, who is the manager of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has been named Manager of the Year three times. Selected in t ...

. In 2009, Hale was hired as the third base coach for the

. He was a candidate to become manager of the Mets after

Jerry Manuel Jerry Lorenzo Manuel Sr. (born December 23, 1953), nicknamed "The Sage," is a former major league manager. He previously managed the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2003 and the New York Mets from the middle of 2008 to 2010 and played in the major ...

was fired at the end of the 2010 season; however, the position went to

Terry Collins Terry Lee Collins (born May 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball manager. He managed the Houston Astros, the Anaheim Angels and New York Mets in Major League Baseball and the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball. He c ...

. On October 5, 2011, Hale signed a two-year deal to become bench coach of the

. 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 Timothy Shawn Teufel (born July 7, 1958) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current coach. He played Major League Baseball from to , most notably as a member of the New York Mets with whom he won a world championship ...

. On May 29, 2013, Hale was

ejected Ejection or Eject may refer to: * Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game * Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series * "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Sense ...

for the first time in his MLB playing or coaching career for arguing a

spectator interference In baseball, interference occurs in situations in which a person illegally changes the course of play from what is expected. Interference might be committed by players on the offense, players not currently in the game, catchers, umpires, or spec ...

and runner placement call.

Brian Knight Brian Michael Knight (born October 2, 1974) is an American professional baseball umpire (baseball), umpire. He has worked as a full-time Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire since 2011. He wears uniform number 91. Umpiring career From 2001 to 201 ...

was the ejecting

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. Hale then went back to the

during the 2015 and 2016 seasons as the club's manager, compiling a 148–176 record. He was fired from the managerial position on October 3, 2016. Hale was re-hired by the Oakland Athletics on October 18, 2016, this time as the team's third-base coach. Then, in November 2017, the

hired Hale as their bench coach. On October 29, 2019, in Game 6 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, he became the acting manager for the Nationals after

Dave Martinez David Martinez (born September 26, 1964) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the manager for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the bench coach for the Tampa Bay ...

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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, the following night. On November 7, 2020, Hale was named the third base coach for the

. On July 5, 2021, Hale left the Tigers so he could become the head baseball coach at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Managerial record

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Chip 1964 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players Arizona Diamondbacks coaches Arizona Diamondbacks managers Arizona Wildcats baseball players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from San Jose, California Detroit Tigers coaches Kenosha Twins players Los Angeles Dodgers players Minnesota Twins players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third base coaches Major League Baseball third basemen Memphis Redbirds players Minor league baseball managers New York Mets coaches Oakland Athletics coaches Orlando Twins players Orleans Firebirds players Portland Beavers players Salt Lake Buzz players Washington Nationals coaches Arizona Wildcats baseball coaches