Tony Vitello delivers quote after Giants’ win involving Chick-Fil-A waffle fries that sounds like it’s straight from his time at Tennessee
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello delivered a quote after a win against the Atlanta Braves that sounded like it came straight from his time on Rocky Top.
Former Tennessee Vols coach Tony Vitello delivered a quote after the San Francisco Giants’ win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday that sounded like it was straight from his time in Knoxville.
In the bottom of the third inning, Giants first baseman Rafael Devers hit a home run off the Chick-Fil-A sponsored foul pole in right field.
Hitting the foul pole means Giants fans get free Chick-Fil-A (it’s the first time the foul pole has been hit since the sponsorship began).
After the game, Vitello unsurprisingly had some jokes about the free Chick-Fil-A (he even compared starting pitcher Logan Webb’s performance to Chick-Fil-A waffle fries).
“I’ve got my head in the clouds thinking about other stuff, but do we get free Chick-Fil-A for that?” said Vitello. “Does that include players and coaches? I’m down with that for sure. They also always have it on our flights, so I may just hold out for the flight. Kudos to those that get to enjoy that for sure.”
“Like waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A — really, really good,” added Vitello when asked about Webb’s start.
This is far from Vitello’s first quip about food.
One of my favorite Tony V food stories happened last summer after the Vols lost a game to Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional.
Vitello Door Dashed some Pizza to his hotel room in Fayetteville and it came with an Arkansas-inspired message.
“After the game, I went to the team meal in the lobby,” said Vitello. “I was sick to my stomach. I thought I could have done better over the weekend. I was distraught we lost and all of that, so I couldn’t eat. So I went to the room, just stared at the TV — it wasn’t even on. Eventually, the starvation hit me. So I went to an old go to — US Pizza. And I used DoorDash. Well, when it got delivered to the door and I picked it up, it had a big WPS [with an] exclamation point on it. My name’s on DoorDash. I’m faced with…do I eat this food or not? That was the big question. I opened it, I smelled it, I looked at it. I had a big ol’ salad that I didn’t even touch. I ate half the pizza and figured, you know, if I get food poisoning or whatever, so be it.
“There were a few more details. I messaged the DoorDash guy, and it was him (that wrote the message), and we actually had a friendly back and forth. But, yeah, that’s how the trip ended. So for any Tennessee haters, they’ll get a kick out of that.”
You never know what you’re going to get when Vitello steps in front of the microphone.