"SAN FRANCISCO -- Tony Vitello fully recognizes he is a most unconventional call-up to Major League Baseball, making the leap from the college coaching ranks at Tennessee to the San Francisco Giants while bypassing the minor league farm system. Yet Vitello hardly seems fazed by the pressures of taking such a daunting path - "this is a challenge that has been presented to me," he said Thursday."
""I do think we're reaching this period where fundamentals and the way guys train are completely different," Vitello said as he was introduced Thursday. "You've seen growth in velos and power and speed and things like that. ... I think there's been some things lost when a kid is growing up on just how to slide and how to do things that seem overly simple. If you haven't practiced it, you haven't been taught it, how are you going to be good at it?""
Tony Vitello moved from the University of Tennessee to become the San Francisco Giants manager without prior professional playing or coaching experience, bypassing the minor leagues. Plans include immediate participation in spring training drills, throwing batting practice and hitting fungoes to reinforce fundamentals. At 47 with a limited throwing arm, Vitello plans to rely on veteran leaders such as Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Logan Webb for on-field guidance. He notes increases in velocity, power and speed have coincided with declines in basic skills like sliding, and he calls for renewed emphasis on practicing simple fundamentals. The organization aims for a return to prominence and long-term managerial stability.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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