SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tony Vitello walked up the dugout stairs to meet with reporters about 15 minutes later than he was expecting because of a team meeting that went longer than planned.
The new San Francisco Giants manager had a lot to say on the first day of spring training.
He also knows he's got a lot to learn.
“I rambled today,” Vitello said, grinning. “The guys might ban me from any more meetings before this thing is over, but you want to set a vibe for what you want your team to be. We can throw out a T-shirt or put something on the locker room door, but it's also going to require some daily interactions.”
The 47-year-old Vitello is one of the more fascinating stories in baseball this spring, with the manager making the rare jump straight from a college dugout to Major League Baseball. Before coming to the Bay Area, he built the Tennessee Volunteers into a national powerhouse in the vaunted Southeastern Conference.
Vitello's college credentials are nearly impeccable: He went 341-131 over eight seasons, reaching the College World Series three times and leading the Vols to the program's first national championship in 2024.
Now it's time to find out if that translates to MLB success. Vitello said he has no excuses.
“There are so many people who are willing to help,” Vitello said. “The biggest thing is our guys need to use these resources. You have everything you need. That reflects on my situation, too.”
Vitello's coaching staff has a few people that should help with the transition, including former Padres manager Jayce Tingler and former Rangers and Angels skipper Ron Washington.
Tingler will be the bench coach while the 73-year-old Washington is the infield coach.
The two coaching veterans are helping Vitello adjust during his crash course on adjusting to MLB life. San Francisco has multiple position competitions to sort out over the next six weeks while preparing for the regular season, including a potential role for star first base prospect Bryce Eldridge.
“I think, at the root of it, there's definitely some boxes that need to be checked,” Vitello said. “You'd like to see guys do well. If you're keeping score, you want to win. But I'll rely on Coach Tingler and Wash about what boxes we need to check before this thing is over with.”
The Giants fired manager Bob Melvin in September after they went 81-81 in his second season and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. San Francisco hasn’t reached the postseason since winning the NL West with a franchise-record 107 victories to edge the rival Dodgers by one game in 2021 under Gabe Kapler.
Buster Posey — the Giants' president of baseball operations — made the surprise move to target a college coach to become the franchise's next leader. While very successful, Vitello had a colorful and combustible reputation.
The NCAA suspended Vitello twice during his Tennessee tenure, first for spending too much time arguing a call in 2018. During that two-game suspension, he raised money for charity with a pizza and lemonade stand while the Vols played.
Chest-bumping an umpire in 2022 led to a four-game suspension, and Vitello spent that time working with a Tennessee fraternity offering a chest bump to anyone donating $2 to the Wounded Warriors Project.
It remains to be seen how Vitello's style will translate to the long professional baseball schedule. The college regular season is 56 games while MLB's slate is a marathon with 162 contests stretching from late March to late September.
Five-time Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman — who played in college at Cal State Fullerton from 2012 to 2014 — said he was looking forward to Vitello's energy.
“He was handling NIL money and things like that, so the college game is probably a lot closer to professional baseball than when I was playing,” Chapman said. “Winning baseball looks the same. It's pitching and defense, knowing how to run the bases, managing personalities and managing guys.
“He has a lot of experience doing that. There's going to be a learning curve in some areas. You can't fully know how to run a major league clubhouse unless you've been in one, but I don't think it'll be foreign to him. He's a baseball guy, he's done things at a high level, so I think the transition will be smooth.”
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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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