SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — With a black sweatshirt pulled over his head and a glove in hand, Tony Vitello blends in almost as if he’s one of the players.
The new manager for the San Francisco Giants grabs a piece of gum from a basket in the dugout, then heads out onto the grass at Scottsdale Stadium and gets to work.
He lingers for a while in right field, surveying the scene, before making his way to the indoor cage. A short while later, he’s all the way back at home plate, leaning on the right side of the batting cage. Vitello bumps fists with Heliot Ramos after one of the left fielder’s rounds of batting practice, then moves several feet to his left for a different look at San Francisco hitters as they take their swings.
“He’s everywhere,” shortstop Willy Adames said. “He has a lot of energy. He likes to be watching everybody, making sure that everybody is working right and doing the right things. He’s just trying to push the guys to work hard and to be better, and I think that’s something that’s going to help the guys a lot and I think that’s something we needed.”
All eyes are on Vitello as the 47-year-old St. Louis native takes over one of MLB’s most storied franchises without a professional baseball backstory of his own, having neither played nor coached above the collegiate level.