For the first time in his life, Tony Vitello got a taste of the full rookie experience.
The Giants’ first-year manager just might still be tasting the assortment of liquids, half-solids and other questionable consumables he was doused in Monday night after earning his first MLB win.
“There was adult beverages, but there was some other stuff mixed in, too,” Vitello told reporters in San Diego, still soaking wet from the team’s celebration. “At some point, I’ll be plotting my revenge.”
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The former college coach never sniffed the big leagues as a player and started his managerial career 0-3 before finally breaking through with a 3-2 win to begin San Francisco’s series against the Padres.
The clubhouse veterans made sure to ring in the occasion in the same fashion as any other milestone for a first-time big leaguer: Loading their skipper into a laundry cart, wheeling him into the showers of the visitors’ clubhouse inside Petco Park and giving him the tried-and-true “everything” shower.
As for the contents, Vitello said, “The burning will let you know. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Vitello saved any emotions for behind closed doors. When Ryan Walker recorded the final out — after allowing Jackson Merrill to cut the lead to one with a two-run homer — the manager turned from his post on the top step of the dugout and calmly shook hands with a few coaches, starting with Frank Anderson, his former pitching coach at the University of Tennessee, who also earned his first MLB win.
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Inside the clubhouse, video posted to the Giants’ social media showed third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Willy Adames addressing Vitello in front of the team. “Let’s make some noise for Tony’s first win,” Chapman said, while Adames presented Vitello a gift wrapped inside a black box.
“Some of these guys have been slower to come out of their shell around me,” Vitello said. “But it’s small moments like that, or breaking camp, or Opening Day, where I think the bond grows a little bit.
“At the end of the day, we want to be a strong unit right now … but I really get a sense that this group is going to get a lot closer together as the year goes along.”
The unit came together to score more than one run for the first time in four games after setting a franchise record for the lowest scoring output to start a season with a single run across three losses to the Yankees.
Just as Vitello was still in search of his first win, the Giants were the last team in the majors still seeking their first home run when they began their series against the Padres.
Harrison Bader, another newcomer, took care of that with a solo shot off Walker Buehler in the third inning. Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt strung together a pair of two-out, RBI knocks the following inning to build the lead to 3-0 in the Giants’ first multi-run rally of the year.
That was all the support needed behind Landen Roupp, who limited San Diego to two hits and two walks while striking out seven over six scoreless innings. Matt Gage retired the side in order in the seventh, and Keaton Winn struck out the side in the eighth before Walker made Vitello sweat a little in the ninth.
Whereas Vitello was quick to take the blame for the Giants’ slow start, he turned the attention to his players after notching his first win. The personal milestone, and the accompanying shower, probably wouldn’t “soak in” until he got back to the team hotel, he said.
“It’s kind of hard to comprehend because I’ve got the same disease as every other coach,” Vitello said. “You want the proper guys to get their props who got it done tonight.”