WASHINGTON \u2014 For the folks actually living it \u2014 players, staff, coaches \u2014 Major League Baseball is a binary endeavor.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the case for all professional sports. The sun rises. A game happens. You win or lose. Either way, the sun sets. Yes, there can be silver linings in defeats or sour tastes after victories, but more often than not, one\u2019s happiness (or lack thereof) is defined by the result.<\/p>\n
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MLB\u2019s near-daily regular-season schedule takes that dynamic to the extreme.\u00a0There are 162 opportunities to revel in the ups or wallow in the downs.<\/p>\n
Few professions operate this way, with such constant, tangible feedback. The big-league lifestyle \u2014 opulent and lucrative as it might be \u2014 is accompanied by a never-ending shadow of judgment, both spoken and unspoken. And each night, as heads hit pillows, the joys of that day\u2019s W or the frustrations of that day\u2019s L can often be the last thing to pass through a coach\u2019s or player\u2019s weary mind.<\/p>\n
And so, the most reasonable approach becomes to smooth it all down, to avoid getting too high or too low, to focus instead on the bigger picture. Over the years, this has turned into a well-worn, eye-roll-inducing clich\u00e9 in the baseball world. But like many clich\u00e9s, it is rooted in truth. Really, it\u2019s a survival mechanism, this performative even-keeled-ness. Ride the roller coaster at your own risk; better to flush it and move on.<\/p>\n
New Giants<\/a> manager Tony Vitello is learning this very crucial lesson on the job.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n A college baseball lifer best known for turning the University of Tennessee into a Division I powerhouse, the 47-year-old is accustomed to winning at a preposterous rate. In Knoxville, Vitello went 341-131 across eight seasons at the helm. That\u2019s a .722 clip, which, converted to a big-league campaign, would be a 117-45 season.<\/p>\n Vitello was even more prolific in the years preceding his surprise departure to San Francisco<\/a>, running a 257-70 record over his final four seasons at Tennessee, good for a .785 winning percentage (127-35).<\/p>\n But things are different now. In part, that\u2019s because his 9-13 Giants have stumbled out of the gate, but it\u2019s mostly because MLB teams simply don\u2019t go 127-35. Vitello has never won more than 60 games or lost more than 27 in a single season. He will, barring enormous catastrophe, surpass both those marks this season.<\/p>\n And sometimes, learning how to lose can be just as hard as figuring out how to win.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been very difficult,\u201d Vitello admitted before a recent game, when asked about this aspect of his transition. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I was warned about from some of my friends. You have to deal with it the right way. Otherwise it\u2019ll sink you.\u201d<\/p>\n For the top college programs, a typical regular season features 56 games, or about one-third of an MLB regular season. So each individual showdown quite literally means more within the context of an entire year. A single college ballgame can carry the emotion, win or loss, of a big-league sweep. Two bad weeks can torpedo a club\u2019s playoff chances.<\/p>\n This was all amplified in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference, where Vitello spent nearly his entire coaching tenure. If MLB\u2019s regular season is about quality emerging over a large sample, SEC ball is about complete and total domination. Blink, and you\u2019ve lost.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That means Vitello is used to acting aggressively and weaponizing his unshakable enthusiasm to animate his ballclub. But while that strategy worked wonders, won championships and turned him into a coaching icon, it\u2019s not easily replicable at the big-league ball.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to make adjustments that are needed,\u201d he explained of whether he has had to be more patient in his new role. \u201cThe games technically mean a little less. So to make a drastic move, in college, when there’s fewer games, might make sense. With this, it\u2019s not necessarily do or die. We can maybe make this change, but let\u2019s not go crazy with this or that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt damn sure is a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Amid the shorter college campaign, there\u2019s an urge to search for meaning under every stone. But these days, Vitello is learning that not every MLB result comes with a larger lesson attached. After San Francisco was carved apart by Yankees<\/a> pitching in the season\u2019s opening series, Vitello pondered about his lineup being tight. The explanation for the Giants\u2019 lackluster performance is likely much simpler: Sometimes Max Fried<\/a> and Cam Schlittler<\/a> shove, and there\u2019s not much the opposing offense can do.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Vitello was similarly assertive after San Francisco\u2019s loss on Sunday, one that wrapped up a road trip with a 4-5 record. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a long season, and blah, blah, blah, sample size, all that crap,\u201d he said before insisting: \u201c4-5 and 5-4 is a massive, massive difference.\u201d<\/p>\n During media sessions, Vitello is blunt, long-winded, refreshingly philosophical and occasionally combative in a way that college head coaches often are but MLB managers usually are not. Freely referencing soft factors such as energy and clubhouse chemistry, emotion and culture, it\u2019s clear that San Francisco\u2019s skipper views the sport through a different lens.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That is why, despite Vitello\u2019s unfamiliarity with MLB, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey<\/a> plucked him from the college ranks. He offers something different; he is a legitimate zag. Few question Vitello\u2019s work ethic, baseball knowledge or people skills. And his high-energy behavior has the potential to be infectious and invigorating over a long season. Before Saturday\u2019s game against the Nationals, Vitello shadowboxed in the dugout with outfielder Drew Gilbert<\/a>, whom he also coached at Tennessee. Other Giants players, many of whom did not play college ball, are beginning to adapt to their new normal.<\/p>\n Vitello will have to do the same, meeting his players somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n