Former Nats bench coach Chip Hale hired to coach Arizona originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Veteran coach and 2019 World Series champion Chip Hale has agreed to be the next manager at his alma mater Arizona, the university announced Monday. The former Nationals bench coach and third base coach has spent this season as the Detroit Tigers’ third base coach. His last game will be Monday night’s contest against the Texas Rangers.
Hale, 56, spent four seasons with the Wildcats from 1984-87, setting several program records. He then played 333 career MLB games across seven seasons before turning to coaching. Hale served in various roles for the Nationals, Tigers, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A’s over a decade and a half — including two years as the Diamondbacks’ skipper.
“I am very honored and excited to be the new head baseball coach at the University of Arizona,” Hale said in a statement. “We will work tirelessly to build on the success that has been established here and continue to coach and develop our Wildcats to be champions on the field and in the classroom. With the help and support of the University of Arizona and the Wildcat Family, we plan on making many trips to Omaha!”
The Nationals hired Hale as the bench coach in 2018 under then-rookie manager Davey Martinez. He spent two years in the role before Washington shuffled its coaching staff around and moved him to third base coach, naming Tim Bogar the team’s new bench coach. After Hale’s contract expired last offseason, the Nationals moved first base coach Bob Henley over to third and replaced him at first with Randy Knorr.
Hale will be the second coach the Tigers have lost to the college ranks this season after assistant hitting coach Jose Cruz Jr. signed on as the head coach at Rice in June.
