Chip Hale


Walter William "Chip" Hale is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman and third baseman, and current bench coach for the Washington Nationals. He played for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, and managed the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Playing career

Born in San Jose, California, Hale played baseball for Campolindo High School in Moraga, California, and the University of Arizona. In 1984 and 1985, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 17th round of the 1987 MLB amateur draft, 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 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 in baseball history. 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.

Coaching career

For the 2006 Major League Baseball season, Hale served as a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks under manager Bob Melvin. Before coaching in the majors, Hale was manager of the Diamondbacks' AAA affiliate, the Tucson Sidewinders for three seasons. 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.
In 2009, Hale was hired as the third base coach for the New York Mets. He was a candidate to become manager of the Mets after Jerry Manuel was fired at the end of the 2010 season; 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. 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.
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.
Hale then went back to the Arizona Diamondbacks 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 Washington Nationals hired Hale as their bench coach. 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.

Managerial record