Get a Chip
Hall of Famer endorses Hale for Mets manager
Chip Hale’s name carries little glitter among the Mets’ potential managerial candidates, but the man who gave the baseball lifer his first shot at managing in the major leagues says he is the total package.
Considering that endorsement comes from Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, it’s easy to understand why Hale has been on the Mets’ list as a potential replacement for Terry Collins. Others in the mix for the managerial vacancy include Robin Ventura, Joe McEwing, Alex Cora, Bob Geren, Kevin Long and Sandy Alomar Jr., with the Mets expected to begin interviews early in the coming week.
“Chip is really an intelligent guy and he’s a competitive guy,” La Russa said in a phone interview with The Post. “You put those two things together, and he’s got some personality, so you go into New York and you have got personality, smarts, toughness, that works there. It works anywhere, but you get tested in New York.”
As the Diamondbacks’ chief baseball officer, La Russa hired Hale as manager before the 2015 season. The Diamondbacks improved dramatically in Hale’s first season, but after the team failed to meet increased expectations in 2016, the manager was fired — along with general manager Dave Stewart — and La Russa received a demotion within the organization.
The Mets previously liked Hale enough as their third-base coach to make him a finalist for the manager’s job when Collins was hired following the 2010 season. The 52-year-old Hale spent last season as Oakland’s third-base coach. He had served as Oakland’s bench coach for three seasons before leaving to manage the Diamondbacks.
Hale’s record in Arizona, according to La Russa, shouldn’t be held against him. The Diamondbacks went 148-176 in Hale’s two seasons.
“The first year, we went from 98 losses to four-under .500, so it was a marked improvement,” La Russa said. “The next year, early in the season, it got away from us, and when you have a young club, momentum, when it goes the wrong way, it’s tough to reverse. But I think the tale of both seasons was good for Chip going forward.”
If anybody might understand what Mets general manager Sandy Alderson seeks in a manager, it’s La Russa. The two spent 10 seasons together in Oakland that built the foundation of La Russa’s Hall of Fame career. Alderson, as Oakland’s GM, hired La Russa as manager in 1986, providing the groundwork for three straight World Series appearances.
“The No. 1 thing with Sandy, he’s a very competitive guy,” La Russa said. “I think he wants a manager that understands the reason the two teams play is the score, and you are supposed to compete to your best to win games.
“But he’s also a very smart guy, so I think he appreciates that a manager is intelligent and is going to be learning, not just about the personnel, but the current [analytics] issue. There are teams that are overwhelming [the manager] and teams that are underwhelming. Neither one is optimal and there is a great balance.”
La Russa views Hale as a blend of old-school sensibilities and new-age information gathering that Alderson should appreciate.
“You can’t sit in the office and send out memos,” La Russa said. “You have got to build relationships, and [Hale] is good with people.
“The expectations [in Arizona] were rushed, and that is the nature of the game. If you don’t reach expectations, more often than not there are changes. But if you are bothered by [expectations], you are doing the wrong thing for a living.”