Old-school manager strikes different tone than Maddon on SF Giants hiring Vitello

Some headlines were made last month when former MLB manager Joe Maddon called the hiring of new SF Giants manager insulting. A different old school manager had a far different response when asked about Vitello's hiring.

Longtime big league manager Buck Showalter appeared on the Splash Hit Territory podcast and shared his thoughts on the Giants hiring Vitello. He said, "I’m pulling for him and I think he’s got a good chance. I applaud Buster [Posey] for taking an unconventional route."

Buck Showalter is complimentary of new SF Giants manager Tony Vitello

Showalter also complimented Vitello's sincerity and said that phoniness is not going to play in a big league clubhouse so as long as he comes across as authentic and genuine he should have a pretty easy time winning guys over.

This stands in contrast to Maddon who, while he was complimentary of Vitello and said he wished him the best, led with the "insulting" comments and seemed to feel that ex-managers like him were getting passed over for opportunities by less deserving candidates. Vitello took the high road when asked about those remarks, though.

Showalter is even more of the old school mentality than Maddon who, once upon a time, was actually thought to be part of the new school managers taking over the game. Showalter was with the New York Yankees back in the 1990's and had a lengthy managerial career that lasted until 2023 with the New York Mets.

If there was anyone in the game you could draw up as someone who would be upset with or bitter about someone like Vitello getting a job over them, Showalter would be it. Yet, he was very positive on the Vitello hire and seems to understand that franchises want different things from managers in this day and age.

No one really knows how this experiment with Vitello will pan out, least of all Vitello himself. He has been open about the fact that he doesn't know how this is going to go and has admitted he has felt overwhelmed at times by the new responsibilities on his plate.

But the fact that he has the trust of president of baseball operations Buster Posey should buy him some grace from fans initially.

At the same time, Giants fans are desperate for the team to improve upon the mediocrity of recent seasons. If Vitello is not able to deliver that, then patience will surely wear thin as fans demand a winning club.

Showalter seems to think he has a good chance to succeed though so he has his supporters amongst old school managers in addition to Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker who are special advisers to the front office not to mention longtime big league manager Ron Washington who is set to serve as infield coach.

The Giants have put Vitello in a good position to succeed with the coaching staff, but now they need to go out and get him some players.