Chip Hale’s second ejection of the season in Tuesday’s game against Grand Canyon, resulting in a two-game suspension in the first two games this weekend of Arizona’s series with Oregon at Hi Corbett Field, provokes this thought:
Surely, Hale’s coach at Arizona, the late Jerry Kindall, a well-mannered man, never got ejected.
If you thought that, you’re outta here!
Kindall was ejected three times in his career as Arizona’s coach, and Hale was on the field for one of them — in 1987 in the third inning when ASU completed a sweep at Sancet Field with a 15-4 win.
Kindall protested vehemently with umpire Dan Toal, a Tucsonan, that an ASU baserunner made an illegal slide into second base to break up a double play that involved Hale.
It was the first and only time Kindall was ejected at home in his career at Arizona.
“I’m embarrassed about it,” Kindall was quoted as saying by the Arizona Republic. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
Hale, who was was ejected five times as the Diamondbacks’ manager in 2015 and 2016, has matched in his two years as Arizona’s coach the three times Kindall was ejected in his 24 years at Arizona.
Kindall was also ejected in the first game of a doubleheader in 1978 when the Wildcats swept UTEP in El Paso in their last season in the WAC.
That occurred in the third inning when he protested a balk call on Arizona ace Bob Chaulk.
A year later, in Arizona’s first season in the Pac-10, Kindall was ejected from a game at USC. The umpires accused Kindall of stalling tactics when he waded to the mound to talk with his pitcher.
That occurred in the seventh inning with Arizona trailing 5-3 after USC pushed two runs across.
Everyone was sent to the showers, literally, later that same inning when a heavy downpour forced the game to be suspended.
The game was completed at Sancet Field the following month with USC winning 7-5.
Jim Wing, Kindall’s long-time right-hand man on the staff, was the acting head coach in each of Kindall’s three ejections.
Two of Hale’s ejections have occurred at Hi Corbett Field involving Chase Davis at the plate.
Hale was tossed against Grand Canyon after arguing a checked-swing strike called against Davis that ended the bottom of the seventh. He was ejected by home plate umpire Angel Campos. Hale confronted both Campos and third base ump Jeff Henrichs after the ejection. Shortstop Nik McClaughry separated Hale from Henrichs before Hale departed.
Last season, in a victory over ASU, Hale argued about a play again involving Davis at the plate. Hale was tossed by home plate umpire Jeffrey Macias after Macias ruled that Davis did not make an attempt to avoid a pitch that plunked him on the right leg.
“I knew when I stayed out there, he’s gonna throw me out,” Hale said of Macias. “I apologized to him after the game. He knows the rules better than I do at this level.”
Hale was ejected by third-base ump Travis Eggert earlier this season in the MLB Desert Invitational at Mesa after he came out of the dugout to defend assistant Toby DeMello.
It occurred in the seventh inning of a 9-8 win over UC San Diego. Following a tying two-run double by Cameron LaLiberte and a go-ahead single from pinch-hitter Tyler Casagrande, DeMello said something that infuriated Eggert. DeMello was tossed and Hale was also ejected shortly after he approached Eggert from the dugout.
Hale is set to return Sunday when the Wildcats play Oregon at 1 p.m. at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona pitching coach Dave Lawn will serve as the acting head coach again Saturday in Game 2 of the series at 6 p.m.
“I told the team it’s not my club, it’s Chip’s club,” Lawn said Friday after the 15-3 loss, Arizona’s seventh straight defeat in Pac-12 play. “I just said to them, ‘Hey man, this game is going to bring out the best in you and the worst in you. It’s easy when it’s easy and it’s hard when it’s hard.’
“It’s been tough lately, but that doesn’t mean it has to be like this starting (Saturday).”
Davis and the Wildcats have expressed their appreciation of how Hale goes to bat for them, to use a baseball term.
“I just appreciate what he did,” Davis told Brian Pedersen of AZ Desert Swarm following Hale’s ejection against Grand Canyon. “He’s awesome. He’s my guy. I love him and he loves me and we ride for each other, and he would do that for everyone else on the team.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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