- 10 months ago
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00:00Tony Vitello will join us tomorrow.
00:03Love it.
00:04Love it.
00:05I mean, hard not to fall in love with Tony today.
00:10You were there.
00:11I'd love to know your impressions.
00:13I don't do impressions.
00:15Yes, you do.
00:16Come on.
00:18I was impressed.
00:20And you talked about his command in the room.
00:22Well, the command came through the radio as well.
00:24And he just delivered kind of an easy, sort of, like, thoughtful explanation of what he does and who he is.
00:33And I'm excited to see him in action.
00:35And I do think that there's going to be some adjusting he has to do.
00:39162 is a long, long season.
00:41And you're dealing with grown men now.
00:43You're not dealing with kids.
00:45And the last question asked by Extra Bags, Andy Bagley, was the one that I was kind of hoping to ask.
00:52And I will ask him tomorrow, and it's about the culture.
00:55He's going to have to coach a lot of Latin American players.
00:58And I was even thinking about the Korean Jung-Hoo Lee.
01:00And you're going to be dealing with a lot of people from different backgrounds and cultures.
01:05And some of these people are going to be parents.
01:08And, you know, you're not just dealing with 18- to 22-year-old kids that you handpicked.
01:12Right, right.
01:12So that, I think, is going to be a unique challenge.
01:15Like, you know how you used to go into people's homes and recruit, and you would talk to mom and dad?
01:20That dad is now your third baseman.
01:22Right, right.
01:24So it's different.
01:25Yeah, a lot of different things.
01:27A lot of different things.
01:28Yeah, you're dealing with, you know, and he even mentioned Justin Verlander, who I don't know if he'll be a giant anymore.
01:33Probably not.
01:34But Verlander's almost his age.
01:36I think Vitello's 47.
01:3747, yeah.
01:38And Verlander's 40-something.
01:40So, you know, that adjustment.
01:42And he was very honest with it.
01:44Like, yeah.
01:44Totally, totally.
01:45We're coming to you live from the Laughing Monk Studios.
01:47Laughing Monk is righteously brewed here in San Francisco.
01:50Here, for me, this was the highlight.
01:52This was the highlight of the press conference right here.
01:56It's different up here.
01:57It just is.
01:57Abnormal may sound like you're saying weird or in a bad way, but very abnormal the last couple days since I've been here.
02:04The attention to detail, the people at the hotel that have either been tipped off or maybe already.
02:09I'm like, how much did you give these guys to?
02:12But, you know, it's not random.
02:15It's not coincidental.
02:16It's culture.
02:17And, again, that's also a vague word and one that's overused a lot.
02:21But it's abnormal here.
02:22And I think it's probably fed into the success of the organization, which has also been abnormal.
02:27Okay.
02:27I love that because he was very careful to explain what he meant by the word abnormal.
02:34He's right.
02:35That has a negative connotation to it, something being abnormal.
02:39What he clearly means is that it's exceptional.
02:41It's different.
02:42And what he was talking about were his impressions of Northern California.
02:46He has some history of coaching in the Salinas area, obviously at a much, much lower level.
02:52Yep.
02:52But he had a host family.
02:54You know, when you're in the lower levels of baseball, that's kind of how it works in small towns.
02:57You'll have a host family.
02:59His host family was in the audience today.
03:01That's kind of how he has held that relationship, how they've held him through the years.
03:07And his impressions then of Northern California, and then as he's putting it now, being in the city and being around this organization, abnormal.
03:19In other words, just different than maybe you'd expect from other coastal towns with a lot of resource.
03:29You know, he's from the Midwest.
03:30And I think depending on where you're from around the United States of America, when you are fed the idea of California, you go, oh, this is like flighty rich weirdos that don't, it's just disconnected.
03:48Nobody cares about anybody else.
03:50Everybody's totally narcissistic.
03:52This is the perception that we deal with.
03:55And what we know here is that that's L.A.
03:58Yeah.
03:58I mean, pretty much.
04:00I'm kidding.
04:01I'm kidding.
04:02But do you know what I mean?
04:03Having lived here my whole life, and you're not wrong, because even if you go to L.A., there is like Santa Monica, L.A., there's Malibu, L.A., there is Orange County, L.A.
04:13Totally different.
04:14There's the Valley, L.A.
04:16There's Inland Empire, L.A.
04:18There's so many different pockets of people.
04:20And the big stark contrast that he's dealing with, you go from Knoxville to San Francisco, where you might catch a Confederate flag down there, one or two, and out here you're dealing with a certain amount of blight in a city that is wonderful and also can be filled with trash at other times.
04:40And it's a wild, wild difference from Knoxville.
04:44I've never been there.
04:45I'm just imagining what it's like to San Francisco.
04:48Yeah.
04:48I mean, and it's week to week.
04:50You know, like maybe down there you said there could be a Confederate flag.
04:53This year, right now, here, there'd be a Canadian flag.
04:57Yeah.
04:57I'm considering flying one, potentially as early as tomorrow night.
05:01Yeah.
05:01Happy Halloween.
05:02Stiney had a Canada shirt on yesterday.
05:04Oh, Canada, go Canada.
05:06Go Canada.
05:09Like, I get what he's saying.
05:13I really do.
05:14But I say that as a native, so I'm totally biased.
05:18I'm kidding about Southern California.
05:19You're right.
05:20It's a thousand different things, and so is Northern California.
05:23I don't think anybody's going to mistake Salinas for the tenderloin.
05:28Like, that's not what he's talking about, and I don't think he's been here long enough
05:32to really, really understand what makes this place tick and whatnot.
05:37But what was evident in listening to him is this is somebody who really, at a high, high level,
05:44values relationships and maintains relationships, and he has a lot here in Northern California.
05:52He has a lot around the San Francisco Giants.
05:55He's talking about a close relationship with former third baseman Bill Miller, for example.
06:00There's a lot of stuff where Tony was bringing out things that are a little bit intricate,
06:06and you hear him talk about the attention to detail and everything, and I don't know, man.
06:10For me, that always speaks very highly of a person, somebody who values relationships
06:16and maintains relationships, and that was a theme that kept coming off of this conference today.
06:23And you have to, when you're especially a Major League Baseball manager, because there's 162 games,
06:28and you are day after day having to talk to your players and console players, pick up other guys,
06:35come down on other guys, and you have to be an excellent communicator.
06:39I think that was partly where the Gabe Kapler era went awry, because he wasn't as good of a communicator.
06:45Maybe he wasn't an honest, genuine communicator, and we'll talk to Steve tomorrow,
06:51and he's one of the best, I think, ever, as far as what he does just communicating with his players,
06:57even through the Kaminga thing.
06:59It never got to the point where Kaminga didn't know where he stood.
07:02He maybe didn't like it, but Steve was able to communicate with Kaminga what the situation was.
07:08What's my favorite word? We talked about it the first day of our show.
07:11What's my favorite word?
07:12What's my favorite word?
07:13Fine.
07:14No, that's my least favorite word.
07:16It's fine.
07:17What did we promise each other when we were going to do the show?
07:19Oh, authenticity, Mark.
07:21Say that word again.
07:22Authenticity, Mark.
07:24Two words.
07:24Two words, yeah.
07:25I think that he came across to me as authentic.
07:29That's what I'm getting at.
07:30Right.
07:30I think that this is like, if Gabe Kapler had sex with authenticity, you'd get Tony Vitello.
07:38Did you take a sip after that?
07:40I don't.
07:42I think Gabe is authentic, but I don't think that he's the kind of leader that you would want.
07:49I think he's authentically him.
07:51I guess.
07:52I shave my beard three times a day.
07:54I don't know, man.
07:55Like, I just think the problem with Gabe, because I, like, there were people.
08:01You loved Gabe.
08:02Well, Gabe got here and won manager of the year.
08:06Yeah.
08:07Gabe got here and won 107 games and manager of the year.
08:11I could, like, you can be as much of a weirdo and do cheeseburgers on IG all you want.
08:16You win 107 games.
08:18I don't care if you wear mismatched shoes and your hat backwards.
08:21I have no, I do not care, but what I'm reading in the end, with all of these, whoever's the
08:28manager of your favorite baseball team, what you want them to do is to be able to figure
08:35out that clubhouse.
08:37You have to figure out how to get energy out of the clubhouse.
08:41You have to figure out to get trust within the clubhouse.
08:45My God, accountability within the clubhouse.
08:48All of those things.
08:50And that's, and you have to sort of fight.
08:54You have to fight.
08:55You have to fight for all of that stuff.
08:56You do have to show a little bit of, you know, go get him.
09:01And Gabe, I think, got to the point where he was so detailed.
09:06He was so robotic with his process and believed in it so much, and for a while it worked, that
09:12I think all of that other stuff stopped being a part of what he was doing at all.
09:17In other words, it's just like, it's a process, and then that's it.
09:21So if there's something that comes up in the clubhouse that's maybe off the beaten path
09:27or off script, Gabe had no clue what to do.
09:30And he would just be like, you guys, just handle it.
09:33Just handle it.
09:34And turn around and go back into his weird old clubhouse manager room thing that he changed
09:39from what all the other managers have done.
09:41He turned it into like a nouveau coffee house.
09:45Right, like a zen room.
09:46Yeah, strip all the rugs out of it and put weird art up and sit back on a couch, have
09:51the media in there, like we're all in some sort of a speakeasy.
09:55And that's fine.
09:56I don't mind weird.
09:58I don't mind weird if it is all authentically working.
10:02And then, like all of our families or workplaces learn, what do you do when stuff goes sideways?
10:09And I think Gabe's answer was, y'all handle that.
10:13I'm going to go get a cheeseburger on IG.
10:16You let me know how it goes.
10:18And I don't think Tony's going to, that doesn't sound like this guy.
10:21That doesn't sound like it at all.
10:22And, you know, he comes in knowing what he knows and also knowing what he doesn't know.
10:27And that, to me, is the key.
10:28And I thought it was interesting, the question today about, you know, whether or not it will
10:32be a group think when it comes to lineups and pitching changes and all the rest of that
10:37stuff, because he comes into an environment now where there's more information available.
10:42There are more people involved in that information.
10:45And I think Buster actually answered it.
10:47And he's like, you know, Tony and I are still kind of getting to know each other and figuring
10:50out what the process will be.
10:53And that, I think, is a big adjustment that he'll have to make because, you know, when you're
10:58down at UT, you're the guy and you have a staff and, you know, the athletic director
11:03is not knocking on your door and saying, I think Drew Gilbert should hit fifth tonight.
11:07It's you, it's your team and you're running it.
11:10And here, you're going to get input from a lot of different people and different levels
11:14and that's good, but it's how you navigate the decision-making.
11:18You know, some people are going to, it's my way or, and that was my sense with both
11:22Bowmail the last couple of years.
11:23It's like, I'm old school and I'm going to make these decisions.
11:26I'm the manager.
11:27Not that he's not taking input, but, you know, Gabe, it was much more of a, let's all
11:31get together and me, you and the spreadsheet Farhan, and we'll figure out exactly what the
11:36numbers say.
11:36And we'll go with that.
11:37Well, that boy, see, that's an interesting way to put it that you just said there.
11:42Like, okay, if I've got a problem, don't say, yo, I'll solve it.
11:47I'll do.
11:49Try to stay focused.
11:50It's a short show.
11:50If you've got a problem, do you want, like, a computer hacker to come to your laptop and
12:01fix it there?
12:02Or do you want to go directly to the person and just be like, can we have a conversation
12:07about this?
12:08And that's overstating it.
12:10I get it.
12:10That's a little theatrical.
12:11But that's kind of what I feel is the difference between two dudes who, by the way, on some
12:18level can give off the exact same vibe.
12:20They're like, I'm here, I'm super smart, and me and my manicured beard have got this.
12:25Like, that's how both of them come off somewhat in a room.
12:29Tony's a little bit more personable, I think.
12:32But that's the problem-solving nature, my perception, of these guys.
12:38Gabe wants to lean on our process.
12:42This is how we do it, and we're going to keep doing this, and when it doesn't work, that's
12:46because it's a one-off.
12:48We're going to stick to our process and type in, and it spits out that, okay, Matt Chapman
12:54will lead off today.
12:55And we're going to do that.
12:56But Tony seems much more like, let's get together and hack this out, like you and me,
13:03or you and me and him, or whatever.
13:06And Buster spoke about that, actually.
13:08Listen to what Buster said with regard to Tony and personal relationships.
13:12I was looking for somebody that I felt like shared a similar vision, had similar ideals.
13:18You've heard him talk about people over and over again up here.
13:22To me, that's your secret sauce in everything.
13:24It's the relationships you build.
13:26So, for me, it was finding somebody that I think we matched up in a lot of those ways
13:30and that we could grow together.
13:33The hope is that this is a relationship that lasts a really long time.
13:36And I want to go back to that other quote that Tim Kawakami got from Buster after the
13:41press conference, and I'll just paraphrase it at this point, but he basically said, look,
13:46Tony's going to ruffle feathers.
13:48Tony is going, there are going to be times where things get maybe what feels like a little
13:54bit dicey, but if that happens organically, it's okay, because that's sports, this is
14:00entertainment, and we are severely lacking on that front around here lately.
14:04No doubt.
14:05Oh, God, yes.
14:07Correct.
14:07Well, and it's funny because once Jung-Hoo Lee came out here, he'd yet to play any baseball
14:14at all, and we had a whole Jung-Hoo crew, and everybody's rocking the 51 jersey, and
14:19we were so hungry for a personality, and then he got hurt after a month, and it's like, oh,
14:23boy.
14:24And, you know, the team is 81-81 every single year, and Logan Webb's your ace.
14:29He's a great player, and he's a great guy, but he's not an electrifying personality, you
14:35know, and so now you've got a manager who, he's kind of funny.
14:38I thought that he had some quips, and he wasn't out there waka, waka, waka, but, you
14:43know, he had a couple of funny one-liners, and I thought that, you know, he was super comfortable
14:48being up there.
14:49The moment wasn't too big, and he understands that this is a massive undertaking.
14:54Massive.
14:55To go from college to the pros, no one's ever done it, and now you walk into a clubhouse
14:59and you got grown men, grown men who are making nine figures.
15:03Yeah, but think about it, right?
15:04So here's Vitello and the way that he's going to approach it.
15:09Again, take that idea from Buster and look at some of his other moves.
15:12So he goes out and gets Rafi Devers.
15:15All right, you gave up Kyle Harrison, who was supposed to be the next big thing around here,
15:19but you got Rafi Devers.
15:21That's somebody with, like, cachet, difference, entertaining to watch.
15:26Bryce Eldridge will probably be up next year.
15:29Tony recruited Bryce.
15:31Bryce said no.
15:32Tony joked today that he'd like to have a conversation with Bryce about that.
15:35That's pretty funny.
15:35When they get to the dugout, you know?
15:38And so add all that into what we already know.
15:40I think Willie Adamas is an entertaining person out there.
15:43Let's see if Jung-Hoo Lee can get his numbers to sort of match the entertainment side of it.
15:49And then Drew Gilbert will, like, play Ring Around the Rosie with all of them after every hit
15:55or whatever it is he's going to do.
15:57You start to see the makings of something that might not just be about can we win 90 games.
16:05This is a product.
16:06It's a product that people might want to watch and be around and draw eyeballs.
16:11Because, dude, I'm the biggest Giants fan in the world.
16:15And I struggle, like, getting even sometimes the people around me to, like, let's get excited about this.
16:23You know what I mean?
16:24The Giants game's on.
16:25Well, the kids are on the phone.
16:27And lovely Christy will get to the game.
16:29And in the second inning, she's like, so.
16:33We getting coffee?
16:34Keep it moving here, right?
16:35Can we get an even quicker pitch clock?
16:37How about four seconds?
16:38Can we throw?
16:39Can we get home?
16:40You know what I mean?
16:40And I get it.
16:41Because it's like, dude, you guys are kind of a yawn sometimes.
16:45And I hate that.
16:46I hate that.
16:47Yeah.
16:47But especially because you're in a ballpark where it's tough to score.
16:52So if you lose 3-1 or 3-2, and they went more than two weeks where they scored about two runs a game,
16:58which is not that exciting.
17:00And if you don't have the personalities either, it makes it even more difficult.
17:04But I like the way he came out today.
17:06He wasn't trying too hard to be anything.
17:09He was just his authentic self.
17:11We're talking about the Tony Vitello introductory press conference on 95.7 The Game.
17:18And that's presented by Paramount+.
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17:32Visit ParamountPlus.com slash NFL to get started today.
17:35Out to the phones we go.
17:36How about Leroy in Oakland?
17:38Hi, Leroy.
17:38Thanks for calling.
17:39What's up?
17:41Hey, what's going on, Willard?
17:42What's going on, Dibs?
17:44Long time no hear from.
17:45Real quick, man, I listened in.
17:47I'm a lifelong Giants fan.
17:48And I listened in.
17:50And just real quick, I like what I heard for the first time.
17:53And listening over the radio, I wasn't able to see it.
17:58But you brought up a good point.
17:59He came off really great over the radio.
18:04So that's a full stop.
18:07When I heard and what I didn't like, but now I'm like, okay, now that I heard it is, I think we're in a little bit of a rebuild from what I'm in.
18:18I kept hearing, build, build, build, right?
18:21Build, build this, build that, build this.
18:24And I think that us Giants fans are going to have to be patient with this.
18:28And, hey, Dibs, what I'm going to do is I'm going to give me a t-shirt that says, vibe it out.
18:37That's what he said.
18:37I'm going to vibe it out.
18:39I love that.
18:40Yeah.
18:41You know what I mean?
18:41If all goes well, I'm going to give me a t-shirt because that's what he needs to do, meaning he's going to develop relationships organically, right?
18:51He's just going to feel this is his first time.
18:53And Buster believes in him.
18:55He came off great.
18:56And this is a great start.
18:58So, just Giants fans, be patient because I think this is a little bit of a rebuild.
19:03And you know the Giants hate using the word rebuild, but I kind of see a little bit of a rebuild.
19:09But so far, so good, guys.
19:11Thank you, Leroy.
19:11Thanks, appreciate it.
19:12Vibe it out.
19:13Vibe it out.
19:14I don't think it's a rebuild when you've got, well, when you have, you've got, what, three or four or five guys with multiple year, long-term, high-money contracts.
19:24Now, it's how do you build around those players?
19:27That's the rebuild part of it.
19:29But by and large, you know, for next year anyway, you know three or four of your starting rotation, probably more.
19:36And of your batting order, you know five or six of the nine.
19:39So, you pretty much know who you're going to have.
19:42And I don't think you're ever going to rebuild when you've got guys with eight- and nine-year deals making more than $100 million.
19:48No, they just need to go get probably a starter or two and kind of re-rack the bullpen a little bit.
19:54I think those are things that they could do on the fly.
19:57I think it's going to be hard to tell a very, very high-priced and in-their-30s infield that this is some sort of a rebuild.
20:06But, of course, it's a build.
20:08It's a build because it's now a new regime.
20:11And he needs to build things like trust.
20:13He needs to build things like a process and a plan.
20:16And that word that we keep going to, relationships, I do like that he pointed to the phrase, vibe it out.
20:23That's a fun phrase.
20:25I would love to play for you the sound clip of when Tony said, vibe it out.
20:30But we don't have that sound clip because Lucas looked directly at me about two hours ago and said,
20:38the question you asked did not lead to an important enough answer, so we're not going to cut this one.
20:45And it was in that answer that he said, we're going to need to vibe it out.
20:50Whoa.
20:51So you can blame Lucas for that.
20:52I don't have it.
20:53The question that was asked by 95.7 The Game's own Mark Willard didn't quite pass muster.
21:00I didn't make the cut.
21:01I'm on the cutting room floor.
21:03Yeah.
21:04I'm out.
21:04That was a good early question, too.
21:06Dude, I was a little surprised that, and I'm not alone, a little surprised that you got in that early.
21:12It hurt some people's necks.
21:14I didn't.
21:14That was the first question asked by an on-air radio host.
21:18I didn't hear what Lucas did cut.
21:20I was not trying to break anyone's neck.
21:22What, what, uh.
21:23Snapping necks.
21:24Yeah, what, what, what did he cut?
21:26He cut this.
21:27Hey, Tony, Mark Willard, 95.7 The Game.
21:29That's it.
21:30That's it.
21:31He just cut me.
21:32That's not exciting at all.
21:34That's just me saying my name, except for, for, for some reason, you thought, like, dibs
21:40comes in today, first thing he says to me, he goes, dude, you never introduced yourself.
21:43Didn't do it.
21:43Hey, Tony, Mark Willard, 95.7 The Game.
21:45I completely did.
21:46I must not have heard it.
21:49Or, maybe.
21:50I wonder what happened to him.
21:51Hey, Tony, Mark Willard, 95.7 The Game.
21:53Hi, Tony, it's Mark.
21:56Talk to you soon.
21:57Different tone.
21:57Different tone, Willard, when he's an oppressor like that.
22:00Well, I had a little bit of.
22:01Mark Willard, 95.7 The Game.
22:02I had a little frog in my throat, too.
22:04There was a little froggy.
22:05You sounded a little nervous there.
22:07No, I wasn't nervous.
22:08No, I wasn't nervous.
22:10Mark Willard.
22:10Yeah, I was just like.
22:11My hero.
22:12Of Willard and sometimes dibs when I let him.
22:14Mark Willard, 95.7 The Game.
22:15Hi, Tony, what's your address?
22:17Totally.
22:18That was going to be my question.
22:20But they looked at me, they're like, don't do that.
22:22And so I changed it on the fly.
22:24Well, his address right now is probably a hotel room.
22:26Yeah, that's true, too.
22:27Yeah, you mentioned that.
22:27Yeah.
22:28Willie Mays Plaza.
22:31Whatever.
22:31Three-year deal for Tony Vitella with a vesting option for the fourth.
22:35Okay.
22:36So, I mean, that's kind of cool.
22:38You get three years.
22:38You get two years.
22:40And then if you're doing well, then we'll pick up the fourth year and we'll go from there.
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