As the 17th coach in Arizona Wildcats baseball history was being introduced Wednesday at Hi Corbett Field, a cooing sound could be heard in the background.
Chip Hale’s infant granddaughter, Palmer, sat on her mother’s lap, a red ribbon tied neatly around her head, a pacifier tucked into her mouth. Palmer had a front-row seat at a news conference that felt like a welcome-home party. Because, well, it was.
For the second time in his long and fruitful coaching career, Hale won’t have to go house-hunting in an unfamiliar city as he begins a new job. The first happened in 2004, when he became the manager of the Tucson Sidewinders. Now he’s back, about to live out a dream, able to sleep in his own bed — whenever he gets a moment to rest, that is.
“I’ve dreamt about this for years,” said Hale, 56, who set multiple UA records as a player in the 1980s that still stand. “This is our community. I’ve lived here over 30 years now. I grew up in California. This is my home. I finally got to come home. Thank you so much for that opportunity.”
With his wife, two of his three kids, other family members and former Arizona coach Jerry Stitt on hand, Hale formed a bridge between the Wildcats’ past and present. He removed his sport coat and slipped on a white, pinstriped UA jersey and a navy “Block A” ballcap.
“To put this uniform on,” Hale said, “it makes my heart feel good.”
The jersey bore No. 8, which wasn’t Hale’s number here. He wore No. 6, but that was already taken, by UA catcher Daniel Susac. Susac offered to give it back, but Hale declined. He instead will wear the number donned by another ex-UA assistant and mentor, Jim Wing.
Wing couldn’t make it to the introduction Wednesday, having recently had surgery. The coaches who helped make him the player and man he became were at the forefront of Hale’s mind — especially Jerry Kindall, who passed away in December 2017.
‘Right time, right fit, right person,’ said UA athletic director Dave Heeke, right, of hiring former UA player Chip Hale to coach the baseball team in July 2021.
Hale still has a voicemail from Kindall, delivered about a month before he died. Hale regretted not having returned that call. But he knew what Kindall would say to him Wednesday.
“He would tell me that you’re prepared for this,” Hale said. “And to jump into it with the passion that you played with, that you coached with at the pro level. And he would tell me he’s proud.”
Hale made several vows Wednesday upon becoming the latest caretaker of UA baseball. One stood above them all.
“If I can be half as good as Jerry Kindall was at making young men into grown men,” Hale said, “then I’ve done something.”
Right time, right person
UA radio announcer Brian Jeffries began Wednesday’s festivities by outlining Hale’s many accomplishments at Arizona. Jeffries unearthed a program from the 1986 College World Series, which the Wildcats won for their third national championship in 11 seasons.
The team photo depicts Kindall on a knee with one other person down there with him — Hale.
“That tells you a little bit about what Coach Kindall thought of Chip,” Jeffries said.
Even as he rose to the highest levels of coaching in MLB, Hale always thought about returning to his alma mater and furthering Kindall’s legacy. When he found out Jay Johnson was leaving for LSU, Hale sent a text message to UA athletic director Dave Heeke. Hale summarized its contents in an interview with the Star after the news conference:
“I am very interested in the position. I understand it’s a very difficult process you’re going to have to go through, but I would love to chat with you about it. ... I’m a U of A grad. I’m a U of A alum. I will support you in any way you go.”
Heeke said he talked to 10 candidates about the opening. He interviewed Hale in Cleveland when his former employers, the Detroit Tigers, were playing there last week. The two had several subsequent conversations.
The more they talked, the more Heeke recognized that Hale possessed the characteristics he was seeking.
“It was a real genuine conversation about his passion for this program and his desire to be here,” Heeke told the Star.
Chip Hale, front, gives a hug to former Arizona baseball coach Jerry Stitt before Wednesday's press conference.
First and foremost, Heeke wanted to make sure Hale was the right person for the job. Then they began to “dissect the nuts and bolts” of how Hale would run the program, Heeke said. They shared the same outlook when it came to player development, staffing, recruiting and making Omaha a regular destination.
Heeke’s conclusion: “Right time, right fit, right person.”
“It’s about an ongoing conversation and making sure that it’s aligned the right way,” Heeke said. “What are you going to invest in? What’s your vision longer term? How do you get a team to be competitive and go to Omaha? What does it take?
“You’re listening to how that comes together, and Chip had those answers. He’s ready to do that.”
Adapt or ‘you’re out’
Hale has something in common with his predecessor: Both are grinders.
“It’s all the time every day. He gets that. He totally gets that and enjoys that,” Heeke said. “His energy level, his drive, his passion ... nobody’s gonna outwork him.”
Hale’s work already has begun. He and assistant coach Dave Lawn, whom Hale retained from the previous staff, have spent much of the week working the phones to persuade players in the transfer portal, 2021 signees and verbally committed recruits that Arizona is the place to be.
“We have to see who is going to come back,” Hale said. “This is a very tenuous time.”
Hale readily acknowledged in his opening remarks that he lacks recruiting experience and pledged to get up to speed as quickly as possible. He will lean on Lawn and the other assistants who’ve yet to be hired. They will have more background in recruiting than Hale, he said.
“One thing we know in professional baseball: If you don’t adapt, you’re out,” Hale said. “It’s the same way here. You need to adapt, and I’m just going to be learning. The recruiting part of it, I’m learning quickly.”
“People are going to want to play for Chip Hale,” Heeke said. “That’s what I continually heard from major-league and college people. This is a guy who can develop players, that’s going to treat them the right way.”
As he walked through the Hi Corbett concourse from the Dugout Club to the coaches’ offices, Hale chitchatted with Lawn about personnel matters. With players in the portal, the MLB draft beginning Sunday and the start of the fall semester about six weeks away, Hale knows he can’t waste any time.
He also knows what he’s getting himself into. Coaching a big-time college program can be a 24/7, 365-day-a-year endeavor.
“This is important to me,” Hale said. “It’s not like I just want to come back here and work 9 to 5.”
The UA job might be Hale’s last in baseball, but he isn’t viewing it as some cushy gig leading into retirement. He plans to coach as long as he’s physically able to. He loves teaching. He has no plans to stop.
And now that he’s here? Well, there’s nowhere he’d rather be.
“Other than my family, it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” said Hale, who has played in more games than any Wildcat. “This is my university, and I want to not only carry it on, I want to make it better. Is it going to be easy? No. It’s going to be a lot of work.”
