SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It is not difficult to find Chip Hale during the Diamondbacks' morning workouts. Just follow the enthusiasm. Whether keeping an eye on batting practice or hitting ground balls to his infielders, Hale seems to bring out the fun in fungo.
Not that the D-backs are neglecting their work. Far from it. Before the spring training games began, they paid more attention to detail, especially in hitting drills, than they have at any time in recent memory. Part of it is a reflection of chief baseball offer Tony La Russa's input.
At the same time, Hale's easy camaraderie and constant reinforcement has generated a positivity that is hard to ignore.
"Chip is a very high-energy guy," right fielder Mark Trumbo said. "We've seen that, and I think we're feeding off that. I think you see a nice bounce in everyone's step around here, and that's not to say we didn't have it last year as well. But is a totally different personality, and I like where we are at.
"I really do believe the team takes on the character of the manager. I think if that's the environment you are constantly around, the next thing you know, guys maybe start emulating that a little bit."
Hale has won with that approach at the college and minor-league level, from the University of Arizona to Class AAA Reno and then again as a bench coach for the 2007 D-backs.
"We have a lot of fun. It's a good group of guys. The coaches have fun, the players have fun. It's supposed to be that way in baseball," Hale said.
Hale is no stranger to laying out a spring training plan. It was one of his jobs as manager Bob Melvin's bench coach in Oakland the past three seasons. This camp was designed a little differently, in part to emphasize what Hale and La Russa want to see from their hitters and from their team in general.
It was a back-to-the-basics mentality. The D-backs set up several stations early in the spring to work on situational hitting. Hitting with two strikes. Hitting to move a runner over. Hitting with a runner on third base and less than two outs.
"Bad baseball disappoints me," Hale said the other night.
The state of the union, in four words.
Hale is doing what he can in this camp to ensure there is no carryover from the D-backs' 98-loss 2014.
"It is fine-tuning the little things," veteran second baseman Aaron Hill said. "We have to do that, especially in the powerhouse division we are in. Everything has a purpose, even your warmups. It is neat that they are harping on that. It's a good idea."
Both Hale and his predecessor, Kirk Gibson, come tightly wound. It comes with the job, with the daily grind of keeping everyone on task. Dealing with the various personalities has its own set of demands.
"The clubhouse is loose," infielder Cliff Pennington said. "It's spring training ... every year you come in and it's fun and you're trying to get ready. Chip has definitely got a personality that is going to being out the excitement in the game and in his team, and I think you are seeing that."
As for the extra workload ...
"If you are not trying to get better, you are about to be gone," Pennington said. "They also have some good philosophies to help us try to do it, so that's what we are working on."
First-base coach Dave McKay smiled when the subject came up. After spending 26 years as a coach with La Russa in Oakland and St. Louis, McKay's view of the D-backs' camp is definitely deja vu. He has seen the begin-at-the-ground floor approach before.
"You practice what you want to play," McKay said. "The guys are not spending a lot of time on the field, but they are getting a lot done. Chip's run a good camp."
When coaches ask, Hale has made room for extra work on, say, outfield drills, so nothing falls through the cracks. As La Russa sees some Albert Pujols in Paul Goldschmidt, McKay sees some La Russa in Hale.
"Those two guys, Tony and Chip, working together have made for wonderful camp," McKay said. "They are very similar. This is one of the most fun camps I've had in a while. I wish people knew Tony like I did. This guy Chip is the same. He's fun, too. He'll get on you for meaningless things. It's good. But when it comes down to focus on the field, it's a positive.
"It'a a big positive."
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