Quote from future Hall of Famer makes it clear how former Tennessee coach Tony Vitello will be viewed by MLB players
Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello was introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco late last month.
The biggest question surrounding former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello’s transition to his new role as manager of the San Francisco Giants is how he will be received by MLB players.
Vitello has never played or coached in the big leagues. He’s the first manager in modern day baseball history to make the jump to MLB without having previous big league experience as a coach or player.
Future Hall of Fame starting pitching Max Scherzer, however, isn’t questioning how Vitello will be received by MLB players. Scherzer, in fact, believes MLB players will be “motivated” by Vitello.
Max Scherzer says Tony Vitello is the only coach that’s ever made him want to run through a wall
Giants play-by-play announcer Dave Flemming joined KNBR’s Dirty Work earlier this week and he shared some comments that Scherzer made to him during the World Series (Scherzer pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers).
Scherzer played college baseball at Missouri when Vitello was an assistant for the Tigers.
“I had a long talk at the World Series with Max Scherzer,” said Flemming. “Max and [Vitello] go back to Max’s college days — Tony was Max’s first coach. I cornered Max in the clubhouse one day, and he wanted to talk about Vitello.
“We talked for probably 20 minutes about [Vitello]. Max said to me, ‘He’s the only coach I’ve ever had who made me just want to run through a wall for him.’ And he said that [Vitello] is just a such a good connector and people person. He said big league players are going to respond to this guy. They are going to be motivated by him. I trust Max Scherzer. He’s been around the game for a long time. I think that carried some weight for me.”
Scherzer is as intense of a competitor as we’ve seen in MLB over the last couple of decades. No one wants to win and perform at a high level more than that guy. So if Scherzer feels that way about Vitello, then I think there’s a pretty good chance that the majority of MLB players that cross paths with the former Tennessee head coach will feel the same way.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as Quote from future Hall of Famer makes it clear how former Tennessee coach Tony Vitello will be viewed by MLB players.
Tennessee Volunteers News
‘It was worth it’ – Tony Vitello delivers statement that will mean a lot to Tennessee Vols fans
Tony Vitello recently stepped down as the head coach of the Tennessee Vols to make the jump to MLB as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants.
