The Giants hired manager Tony Vitello directly from college (the University of Tennessee) this past offseason in a move that turned heads and made history: Never before has a college head coach been hired directly as an MLB manager without previous professional coaching experience. 

Thus far, things are not going well, to say the least. The Giants are 3-7 with an MLB-worst negative-25 run differential. Vitello already took the blame for the Giants looking terrible on Opening Day, noting that maybe he shouldn't have given a "fire and brimstone" speech in the clubhouse. He has messed with the lineup a bunch too, which seems like the type of urgency that isn't done in Major League Baseball, what with the 162-game marathon and all. 

On Sunday, Vitello was ejected -- his first -- for arguing with umpires after Jerar Encarnación was ruled out for running outside his lane on the way to first base. Mets reliever Huascar Brazobán fielded Encarnación's hit and threw it to first baseman Mark Vientos, who was unable to hang on to the ball. First base umpire Nestor Ceja called Encarnación out anyway, saying he had left his runner's path.

The umpires pretty clearly got the call right. You can hear the Giants' local broadcast crew here explaining why it was correct:

After the game, Vitello said the umpires were right but that he was triggered by past experiences from college. 

"I'm sure he got it exactly technically right," said Vitello (via The Athletic). "It's just a play I've got a lot of history for. … Lost a game to Lipscomb on that play, lost the game to (Oklahoma State coach) Frank Anderson and a Big 12 championship on that play. The difference between the two that I'm talking about, and I can talk about others, is the runner. In Frank's instance -- and I've called his team cheaters -- (the runner) completely interfered with the throwing lane for the pitcher. So again, umpires are held accountable by what the rules are, and they enforce those rules.

"And again, I don't want to replay. I'm sure they did it 100 percent to the tee, but you know, from my perspective, for plays between the mound and the third-base line, you know, the runner's not going to have much to do with it.

"I said one last thing, just out of frustration or being all fired up. It was complete nonsense. I think it was misinterpreted a little bit, but (if) you're on the field that long and you're not a player, you're probably out of place a little bit."

Mr. Vitello, sir ... what are you doing? 

Why is Vitello bringing up college and why is he harping on how he called some people in college cheaters? What is going on? This is a few steps above, but still in the same ballpark as, some loser on a barstool as an adult talking about how awesome he was in high school. 

This is the big leagues. I cannot imagine when Vitello was interviewing with future Hall of Famer (for his work in the majors, not at Florida State) Buster Posey that he talked about how often he'd bring up college while managing in the majors. Surely that would've been a nonstarter, right? 

College is college. The pros are the pros.

Look, it's only 10 games. There are 152 more and the Giants have plenty of time to turn things around. They are more talented, at least on paper, than they are playing. All this can be true. 

The bottom line right now, though, is that the Vitello hiring at the time was a huge risk and right now it looks like a mistake. Time will tell if that remains the case, but the start has been inauspicious. 

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