The late Roger Sedlmayer said “Steeeeeeve Kerrrrrrr” over the public-address system at McKale Center shortly after Kerr’s career began with the Wildcats in 1983-84.
Former local TV sportscaster Dan Hicks, now a longtime NBC broadcaster, was the PA announcer at Frank Sancet Field when he played off the craze Sedlmayer developed. Hicks had a unique way of announcing Chip Hale’s name when Hale came to the plate late in his Wildcat career that ended in 1987.
Hicks, who was attending Arizona as a journalism student at the time, contributed to Hale becoming a fan favorite at Sancet Field with how he said Hale’s first and last name.
Anthony Gimino, a writer for the Tucson Citizen, wrote in a 2007 article that former Arizona sports information director Tom Duddleston recalled Hicks, while preparing to announce a game, being “especially crisp with the one-syllable names ‘Chip’ and ‘Hale.'”
“As the games went on, I just kind of put a little more space between the first and last names, and then it got to be where several seconds would go by,” Hicks told Gimino in the article.
Hicks eventually stopped saying Hale’s last name, simply mentioning, “Chip” and allowing the fans at Sancet to yell, ‘Hale!” to finish his announcement.
Legendary coach Jerry Kindall, known for his straight and narrow, fundamentally sound personality, approved of the “Chip” … “Hale!” routine Hicks had with the fans.
“I always had fun with the names,” Hicks told Gimino. “I tried to see what I could get away with because I was always wary of Jerry Kindall down there in the dugout.
“My worst fear was Jerry peering out and giving me a look like, ‘All right, that’s enough fun and games.'”
Hicks, a Sabino High School graduate, went on to become a sportscasting legend at NBC since 1992 after first starting with CNN in 1989.
39 YEARS AGO TODAY, HALE AND ARIZONA EARNED A TITLE
Hale had a walk, double and RBI triple in the 10-2 victory over Florida State on this day 39 years ago when Arizona won its third national championship.
He was one of the co-captains of the team, an extension of Kindall and assistant coaches Jim Wing and Jerry Stitt on the field.
Arizona had a players-only meeting after the Wildcats lost at USC early in the conference season, starting 17-10 overall that season.
Hale reportedly took command of the meeting after it was complained by the position players that the pitchers weren’t carrying their weight, except Gil Heredia.
“We had to put a stop to all of that garbage,” Hale was quoted as saying in the Tucson Citizen. “We were not playing together, not picking up for one another. … We had too many guys playing for individual glory. We had to win as a team.”
Arizona went 32-9 the rest of the season, including a 12-1 run at the end en route to a title.
The headline of a Corky Simpson column in the Tucson Citizen stated: “Award Kindall a long-term contract.” Kindall and other coaches at Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona operated under one-year contracts at the time, but the Arizona state legislature approved five-year contracts for coaches shortly before the College World Series began in 1986.
Hale’s contract has yet to be extended. He has one more year left in his five-year contract he signed when hired by his alma mater in 2021. The situation is becoming a topic of discussion. AZ Desert Swarm published a column Monday with a headline that reads: “Contract extensions are long overdue for Arizona coaches Chip Hale, Caitlin Lowe“
1976, 1980, 1986, 2012 … Arizona chasing five titles
Arizona is attempting to win its fifth national championship after earning titles in 1976, 1980, 1986 and 2012.
The Wildcats have stated in interviews that they are “Chasing Five.”
“It’s been a theme since day one,” Hale said after Sunday’s 4-3 win at North Carolina in the final game of the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Super Regional. “In the fall, we had banners up. We had T-shirts made. It’s really important. These guys want to make history at Arizona.
“This is a program that’s won four national championships. We want to be in Omaha, and we want to win it. It’s been a huge theme for us. And there was a point in the season, I think everybody, if we’re honest, where it did not look very good for us. These kids sucked it up.”
LSU and former Arizona head coach Jay Johnson are also in the College World Series.
Johnson, Hale’s predecessor at Arizona, mentioned of the LSU job after he was hired in 2021: “Everything is possible here when you talk about Omaha, when you talk about national championships.”
Arizona is chasing five of them.
LSU is going after its eighth national title.
USC is the leader with 12.
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