After losing Assistant Hitting Coach Jose Cruz, Jr. to his alma mater in Rice, the Tigers have lost a second assistant coach to his respective alma mater as Third-Base Coach Chip Hale has accepted the head coaching gig at Arizona. The 56-year-old played at Arizona from 1984-87 and won a National Championship in 1986. After playing seven Major League seasons, Hale coached in the Arizona Diamondbacks system in 2007 and 2008 and managed the club in 2015 and 2016. Hale was also the bench coach on the Washington Nationals World Series-winning team in 2019.
Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch provided an update before last night’s win at Texas on how the Tigers will handle replacing Hale in the short term future:
A.J. Hinch said new Arizona coach Chip Hale will work with the Tigers tonight. After that, bench coach George Lombard will take over 3B coach duties until the All-Star break. Hinch & Al Avila will talk and decide what happens w/ the staff after that.
— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) July 5, 2021
You can read more on Chip Hale’s departure to Arizona here.
Wildcat legend. NCAA National Champion player. World Series Champion coach. Proud to announce Chip Hale as our next head coach!
Welcome back to Tucson, skipper! #BearDown ?⚾
— Arizona Baseball ? (@ArizonaBaseball) July 5, 2021
