Tony Vitello gives nostalgic nod to the past in SF Giants introduction

Tony Vitello was introduced as the next SF Giants manager on Thursday and he made an effort to nod to the organization's past in his opening remarks. It was a wise move to try and endear himself to a fanbase that has great reverence for the past.

In his opening remarks, Vitello name dropped Madison Bumgarner, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Tim Lincecum, and Sergio Romo. Later in the press conference, he even said that he was at Game 7 of the 2014 World Series when Bumgarner delivered a performance for the ages.

He also mentioned Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker in a nod to some of the great managers the team has had in the past.

Tony Vitello gives a nod to SF Giants nostalgic past in opening remarks

It was smart for Vitello to mention past Giants players and managers in his opening remarks because his hiring may seem somewhat odd to some Giants fans who are used to a Giants manager having a certain amount of experience and behaving a certain way. By paying homage to the storied history of the franchise he is acknowledging to those fans that he respects that tradition and is trying to live up to it, not upend it.

The Vitello hire is somewhat revolutionary given the fact that he is coming straight from the University of Tennessee and has no experience in professional baseball. That is going to rub some people the wrong way who will say Vitello has not paid his dues or does not know how to calibrate his style to the big leagues.

There will inevitably be doubters with such an unorthodox hire, but the truth is no one really knows how this experiment will turn out. On its face, Vitello is the opposite of his predecessor Bob Melvin. Melvin brought many years of big league managerial experience with him to the job and a more reserved demeanor which resulted in a continuation of the mediocrity that preceded him.

Vitello has no big league experience and seems to be much more energetic and fiery than Melvin. After four straight seasons of general mediocrity, maybe shaking it up is exactly what the organization needs at this point in time.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey clearly sees something in Vitello, and the fact that he is the one who decided to hire Vitello is going to buy the new manager some legitimacy.

It was clearly not an easy decision for Vitello to leave Tennessee as evidenced by his lengthy goodbye. But as he turns a new page and begins something new in San Francisco, his nod to the past will reassure fans as he sets out to try and make new memories for the Giants going forward.