Tony Vitello talks about the new job in San Francisco | Hot Stove

Tony Vitello talks about the new job in San Francisco | Hot Stove

Harold’s got a mystery call I ever man. And there he is. Make sure you hold that phone close to you so we can hear you. Yeah, hold that phone close to you. Hey, Mr, caller. Good morning. How are you? Morning? I’m doing well. All right, we know it’s not a current player. Matt’s gonna ask you a few questions. He’s, he’s puzzled. Mystery caller. Are you a retired major league baseball player? No, I’m far from that. Oh, far from that. Uh, did you call, are you, are you a pro ale in another sport? No, I’m also very far from that. You threw him well off the no chance now, Mr call you an actor? No, I would like to be all right. Last question. Really good with the voice question. Um, fluent in Spanish, right? I am not, I’m working on it. I’m working on it. That was a soundboard. We’re not going soundboard. Starting high school. When was the last time you got a hair? When was the last time you had a haircut? Let me ask you this mystery caller. Do you recently have a new job? I do an exciting one. Are you the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Tony. And you sandbagged me, Tony, dude. That’s good. That was a disappointing tone when you said Tony because I, because I should have gotten it , man. You sandbagged me when you, you built yourself as being somebody outside of sports. And I was thinking about all of Harold’s celebrity friends. You’re one of a celebrity. Hey, Tony. Uh, congratulations, man. I know that it’s been a while since you’ve been named manager of the Giants, but I personally have not had a chance to congratulate you. What an unbelievable awesome opportunity for you. Are, are you still in the glow of this or have you already gotten your hands dirty and dug in? Thank you. No, the glow has worn off and I’m trying to decide which time zone I’m, I’m sleeping in. So, uh right now I’m in the middle of the middle of the country and just trying to get things sorted. I think the final pieces of the coaching staff is coming together and that’ll be a huge hurdle to get over to push forward with the next few steps. All right, Tony, we got some good time here with you because really, uh we haven’t had a chance to talk to you about the change from Tennessee. First question would be how this all come about, you know, I, I think how my whole career came about is being surrounded by good players and uh the Giants. Uh selected one of our best players Gavin Keean with their first round selection in the draft. And these clubs, I hope the fans realize how much time scouts and front offices put into these decisions. And it’s like any decision, it’s a good one if it works out and it’s criticized if it doesn’t, but the time and effort is put in. So there’s a lot of conversations and Then when Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell are traded for there’s background research there and Then there’s follow up like, hey, any, you know, basically any tips on how to coach these guys or who they are. Um And, and Then the idea started to get floated a little bit and I didn’t know how serious it was. Um, but a lot of steps went, went down and a lot of drama went down and here we are. Wow. Yeah, talking about drama, I’m sure uh, Tennessee is probably a little dramatic with you leaving. So, how hard was that to leave a , a franchise that you really built up to be a college power to, to go to the, to the Giants here? Yeah, I mean, my first instinct is anything outside of family stuff. It was the hardest I met my first pro umpire this weekend at a charity softball event. Jake Berger had a great event, um, you know, dedicated to Down Syndrome and I met my first big league umpire and I got some, I’m already asking for pieces of advice. But, uh, it was the hardest thing that I’ve, I’ve ever been through. So, where are you right now? On the, uh, on the new hire checklist? Are you calling players on the roster? Are you making trips? Where are you right now in the process? Yeah, I, I talked, I’ve only met one player, um, you know, and it was a good one. Webby and I hooked up, um, he, he and I were in the same spot. So we, we met up for a little bit. The rest has been conversation and text with players and I feel awful. Um Not that they’re down the priority list, but the staffing thing has soaked up so much of our time and that’s, that’s priority number one right now. And I would say we’re about 85% complete and uh I know what plan A is in my mind and, and hopefully we can work that out literally in the next couple of days and, and push forward from there. What do you think? What do you think, Tony, like the biggest change that you kind of visualize implementing from the college game to the big league game? And, and there are a lot of old starchy big league guys that say , oh, there’s nothing in college baseball that we could do that would make us better. You probably bring a different perspective to that. Is there something that you have in mind in that regard. I don’t think there’s any reinventing the game or anything like that, but I do see a little bit of a, not, not, not this clear cut, but for conversation’s sake, I do think coaching the young players, which the league is young right now according to everybody and in some of the names I see coaching those guys just like college guys. I mean, Bryce Eldridge could technically still be in college and Drew Gilbert is not too far removed. And, um, I, I think showcase baseball has done so much for college recruiting a and making some of these guys household names, but with everything, there’s pros and cons and I, I think, um, you know, guys that are 30 years and younger have grown up in this showcase era where the fundamentals of how to play the game or just the right way to try and win a game, not get a scholarship, um, has been lost in the mix a little bit. So hopefully the staff can really contribute to those young guys and almost coach them as college players. But those young guys are only gonna make up so much of a roster. Yeah, that, that’s an interesting point because, uh, when you’re in the, the, the amateur rank and even in college , you’re still trying to be seen to get to that next level pro ball and now you’re going to a place where it’s like we’re winning the World Series. So that’s that’s a little bit different as well. And that’s not my question though. That World Series, yeah, with, uh with analytics, um so involved in our sport now and particularly in colleges and you were at one of the major colleges and that’s why a lot of your players are getting drafted and went there because you had all the metrics and everything else. It’s a big part of it that I think it’s closed the gap a lot between scouting pros and, and being able to be a pro. Uh, and so, you know, Matt made a point where there’s a lot of old crutches, baseball people going, there’s nothing in the college game. It’s starting to mirror the programs game so much because of analytics. Do you agree with that or disagree? Yeah, 100%. And if I could contribute anything, I’ve kind of joked on the guinea pig. Um, and, and maybe that’s what I , I am and, you know, I, I think I’ve got a lot of support and I’m sure there’s other people out there that think the thing will fall flat no matter how it goes. Um, if I could walk away from this, you know, with that tough decision and be happy with one thing, I would love to be one small piece of a bigger group that works hard to melt these two big entities together. Um, with minor league teams shrinking college baseball getting so good. Um, I, I really feel like the two should be married a little closer together. And ultimately, what you’ll get is college baseball will improve. But ultimately, what you’ll get is a better product in major league baseball. And that’ll mean more money for everybody. And like it or not, money certainly had nothing to do with this decision. But money kind of drives a lot around this world we live in. Um, so I, I would love to see that meshing and melting together that you’re talking about uh kind of be accentuated and, and really accelerate, you know, just kind of spitballing here, Tony. Uh I believe this is accurate, no fewer than five countries represented on the Giants 40 man roster. So you’ve got a lot of different languages floating around in the clubhouse. I’m not sure how, how uh sharp your Spanish or your uh your Thai or other languages are for you. But um have you, have you thought about the kind of more international component of managing people at the big league level as compared to college a a ton? And, and the one thing I am nervous about is um and, and I’ve talked with people through it is getting a message either lost in translation or, or a message not fully across. And, and obviously, you know, you’ve got translators like that’ll help with Lee and I, I need to improve my Spanish part of our hiring our staff. It was very important um to make it as well rounded and a diverse staff as you could find. And I, I think, well, I hate to make false promises but I, I think that’ll work out and you’ll see that in a few days. But on the excitement end of it , um, or the positive is I’ve traveling is my hobby and there’s nothing I love more than just kind of finding out educating myself about different cultures and, and seeing different places. And so that’s one part I’m pretty excited about. Just got to make sure we’re on the same page at the very least. Learn a few jokes. We can throw back, you know, back and forth. You’re such a baseball junkie. I can only imagine your first spring training sitting there going. That’s what Tony across the way. I mean, it’s gonna be pretty cool, uh, experience in that. Yeah. Imagine trying to talk to Buster Posey. Buster Posey and have, uh, you know, business negotiations or, or business talks going on. Uh, it was difficult. I joked but it was also serious. I told my agent a few times. Like, let me talk to the other guys. You talk to Buster because it’s , it’s almost too weird for me, uh, being a fan of the game and Then obviously being a fan of what he was able to do on the field, you know, what you can do. I just sent Jace over there because Jace Jace Tingler is on the staff he’s, he speaks fluent Spanish from the best. I know the, the guys in San Diego and he managed there used to call him tingle so maybe tingle can go deal with that. Well, he, he took uh an enormous step in a leap of faith and, and spent his initial career down in the Dominican Republic and, and he and I are gonna go down there and he’s gonna educate me on things down there and help my Spanish out, but yet is not afraid of anything. And uh he’s very intense. So he’ll be, he’ll be taking over a lot, a couple of things to come to mind and we’re not gonna keep you forever. But this is good stuff and a lot of people want to hear from you um culture of, of major league baseball. It’s not ra ra spin out of the dugout every second like college. And I know in college, one of the things that really bonds teams together is retreats, opens different things like that dinner even. Have you thought about how you might try to bring some of that to a Major League clubhouse in bonding a team together instead of 25 guys going 25 directions. Yeah, I, I think a lot of it starts with just creating an environment that people want to be in. I mean, we’re about to hit up Thanksgiving and um you know, again, family is the most important thing for everybody, but sometimes if you go to a couple of different friends givings or Thanksgivings, there , there’s one that you don’t mind exiting quickly. And um you know, if you walk into a party of any kind and there’s a good vibe in the air, you want to stick around, uh you don’t want closing time to come. And so having an environment where people want to spend time is an overly simple answer, but it’s the most effective uh thing to have in place tied into that. And Then the other thing is kind of, you know, related to the decision, a a donor that I really love was texting me during the same night. You and I talked Mariners. Um you know, we’re playing the Blue Jays in game seven and he was talking about you’re not going to get to coach kids anymore and, and that same environment ra ra will go away and I’m watching that game and I’m thinking if you don’t see two dugouts of full of kids right now and a guy like Springer that’s jumping 6 ft in the air when his kneecap is busted, um Then, Then you’re not watching the same thing I am. So I think allowing these guys to be kids, you know, when you got a uniform on, it’s like you’re out at recess is, is what I always say. Um So attempting to have fun, but all three of us and everyone listening know that you got to win to have fun. So that’ll certainly be a part of the equation. Terrific perspective, man. Love hearing you say that we wish you the best of luck. I can tell you as a northern California native Tony, um the Buena vista where you get the Irish coffees, a little touristy , great Greek food. Go to Kari when you have a night off. Uh And the tour at Alcatraz is still cool to do if you haven’t go see Alcatraz Island. And the last thing is make sure uh Bochy will give you plenty of wine. He’s got the best wine. Yeah, I understood the policy was when there was a win. Uh The good stuff, Bo Bochy busted out the good stuff. But you go to the cheap rack if , if there’s not a win. So, and I’ve been to Alcatraz once. I thought it’d be a good way to win over some Giants fans if I could swim out there. But we’ll see one step at a time. Let’s hire the, the rest of the staff, Tony. We wish you the best of luck, man. Uh You got a lot of fans over here in this building, so a lot of people so happy for you in this great move and we can’t wait to visit with you once you get started during the season. Thank you. And, and it goes without saying that I don’t think this ever comes about if uh the MLB Network Family didn’t welcome me the way they did and Then also prop me up by making things so easy whenever I was on camera. So thank you to everybody. Even Harold, which is crazy to say, Tony, thanks man. Good luck. Happy Thanksgiving. You and your family. Way to go.

Giants manager Tony Vitello joins Hot Stove to talk about the new role, adjusting to the organization, and more.

Don’t forget to subscribe! https://youtube.com/mlbnetwork
Stream MLB Network: MLBNetwork.com/Stream

Follow us everywhere:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mlbnetwork/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MLBNetwork/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mlbnetwork