ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – St. Louis native Tony Vitello was introduced as the San Francisco Giants’ new manager on Thursday, October 30.
“Very high standards to meet because of the past,” Vitello said in his introductory press conference. “This is a challenge that’s been presented to me, and, again, I’m humbled and honored to be in front of you today to take on that challenge.”
Vitello joins the Giants after eight seasons at the University of Tennessee, where he brought the program back to national prominence and won six National Coach of the Year awards. In 2024, he led the Volunteers to their first national championship.
He is the first to go directly from college baseball head coach to a major league managerial position without any former MLB experience.
“If you can coach you can coach,” Tony’s father Greg Vitello said. “When he first started coaching at Missouri, it was kind of the same deal. He was a role player, then all of a sudden, he stepped into being the student assistant, and now, all of a sudden, he’s the pitching coach. And he was never a pitcher. There were a lot of ‘he never was’ things.”
Like father, like son
The University of Missouri and De Smet alum caught the coaching bug from his father, Greg Vitello, who coached at De Smet for 46 years and is a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame member.
“Really all I want to do is a good job,” Tony Vitello said. “I think because of being around my dad, and being blessed around winning players similar to [Buster Posey], those standards are very high.”
Greg Vitello said he was overwhelmed when his son called with the news.
“All I could say was ‘wow’ and a couple of tears,” Greg Vitello said. “We just kind of looked at each other and said you know what, you’re the manager of the San Francisco Giants. There was a pause and he said yeah, I am.”
Matt Ratz, who played for Greg Vitello at De Smet, said Tony displays many of his father’s traits.
“I think you see a lot of traits of Coach Vitello in Tony. The work ethic, the intensity, the competition, the hatred of losing,” Ratz said.
When asked about Tony’s ability to manage a big league team without any prior big-league experience, his father said he’s been preparing for this moment his entire life.
“I coached by myself and, for the most part, he was my assistant coach,” Greg Vitello said about Tony. “Going home after games and after practice, I would put him on the spot and say, ‘what do you think about our right fielder?’ or ‘is our third baseman in the right position in the batting order?’ and, without hesitation, knowing he was going to talk about his peers, he would come right out and say ‘hey, I think this guy would be this and this guy would be that.’ It was simply what he was observing; what he was seeing. When he was at Missouri, he wasn’t a full-time player when he first got there. So, sitting and watching, he’s watching some of the best college coaches in America do their thing.”
One skill Vitello brings to the big leagues is his ability to recruit and develop.
During his time at Tennessee, Vitello saw 52 players drafted. He previously coached at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas, coaching MLB players from World Series starter Max Scherzer to the Cardinals most recent first-round pick Liam Doyle.
De Smet to Giants pipeline
The Vitello family has connections to the Giants organization dating back years. Bill Mueller, a former De Smet player under Greg Vitello, was drafted by San Francisco.
“I remember my junior year, Coach Vitello after practice told us his first player from DeSmet just got called up to the big leagues, which is Bill Mueller, and it was up with the San Francisco Giants,” Ratz said
“Tony was really young – eight, nine years old when Bill played here. He used to sit on the bench and watch Bill play,” Greg Vitello said. “I would hit him 100 ground balls, and if number 67 he missed, he would want to start again. Everywhere he went, it was ‘well, you know, he’s kind of small, he doesn’t have a great arm, and he’s a switch hitter, but he doesn’t pull the ball, and he doesn’t hit for power.’ He couldn’t be denied. He kind of reminds me a little bit of Tony.”
From college coach to big league manager
Now the 40th manager in Giants history, Tony continues to make his coach proud.
“I keep kidding his mother. I said, ‘You know what? You happen to be the mother of the manager for the San Francisco Giants.’ All she can do is smile.”
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