Tony Vitello is such a big Dolly Parton fan that the San Francisco Giants manager once tried to call into the Howard Stern Show when she was on it to let her know how much he appreciated all she did for the state of Tennessee.
Vitello didn’t get through, but the then-University of Tennessee baseball coach told the story to reporters the next day because Parton was scheduled to appear at the Vols’ football game that weekend and, he added, “The Kansas City Chiefs can have Taylor Swift all they want, we’ll take Dolly Parton on Saturday.”
Vitello reminisced Tuesday about his fandom after the singer and actress died at the age of 80, saying that he had a chance to meet her at that football game against Georgia, “and she was just so gracious to everyone.”
That was in 2022, and Vitello was trying to stay 6 feet — or more — away from her given that COVID was still a concern. “You felt like you should not be within 10 feet of her because you feel like there’s an angel on her,” he said, “but I got to be around her for a minute.”
Vitello is friends with well-known Tennessee comedian Leanne Morgan, “who got real tight with Dolly,” Vitello said. “Everybody’s pretty heartbroken. There’s no one on that level, that’s a worldwide level.”