Tony Vitello gets asked about the Tennessee Vols amid the San Francisco Giants’ struggles
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello was asked about the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday. Vitello, who led the Vols for eight seasons, is in his first season as the manager of the Giants.
Tony Vitello received a brief distraction from the San Francisco Giants’ early-season struggles on Tuesday when he was asked about the Tennessee Vols.
Vitello, who led the Tennessee baseball program for eight seasons before making the jump to MLB, has seen the Giants get off to a slow start this season.
San Francisco is 22-33 through the first 55 games of the season. They have one of the worst records in the big leagues. And Vitello, as a result, has been dealing with plenty of outside noise.
Tony Vitello gets asked about Tennessee’s NCAA Regional draw
The Vols will play in the Chapel Hill Regional this week. Tennessee’s first game is on Friday afternoon against East Carolina.
Vitello was asked for his thoughts on the Vols and the Chapel Hill Regional before the Giants’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
“Obviously, they’re capable because I think a lot of their coaching staff, and it’s a talented roster,” said Vitello. “But it’s also playoff time. Anything can happen, and I know that was Buster’s (Posey) teams’ philosophies — just let us in the playoffs and see what happens. Because anything can happen, and you can wreak a little havoc, as long as you’ve got some self-belief.
“The storm or the waves will get even rockier in playoff time, so the teams that can kind of manage that a little bit better, and keep their composure in those situations, are going to do a lot better. But I’ve broken down those numbers a ton, just because you’re hosting doesn’t mean you’re going to win. And the numbers, in the most recent years, there’s been more and more bracket busters in college baseball, kind of like we’re used to in March Madness — where home field doesn’t really play anything into it. But there’s chaos.”
Maybe it’s just me, but it seemed like Vitello perked up quite a bit when he heard the Vols mentioned…