The San Francisco Giants went the totally unconventional route with their new manager. They hired Tony Vitello to take over this season, straight from his head coach position at the University of Tennessee.
He didn’t have the professional baseball experience of a typical MLB manager hire, but the Giants gave him a shot based on his overall baseball pedigree anyway.
So far, it’s been a really odd fit.
It’s too early to make sweeping judgements about Vitello’s decisions as a manger as far as baseball strategy is concerned.
It’s not too early to say that Vitello might need to change his tune in press conferences just a bit. Right now, he’s digging himself into a hole.
Recently, Vitello blamed the Giants’ rough start on a season-opening speech.
“I’d kind of put it on me a little bit,” Vitello said. “I got all fire and brimstone a few days ago.”
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His suggestion was that MLB players had gotten too excited by his speech and it had caused them to play poorly. That seems quite unlikely, unless he gave the greatest speech in the history of speeches.
Then there was this recent line about the difference between college baseball and MLB: “I can’t talk down to guys anymore, they’re my age — or it feels like they’re close to it.”
So just openly admitting to coaching harshly when at Tennessee? Some old school fans might appreciate that, but it’s also not a great look.
Vitello is certainly giving San Francisco media some stories to write, but it might not be the best idea to keep things going like this, especially before the Giants have even won a baseball game.
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