SAN FRANCISCO — Tony Vitello fully recognizes he is a most unconventional call-up to Major League Baseball, making the leap from the college coaching ranks at Tennessee to the San Francisco Giants while bypassing the minor league farm system.

Yet Vitello hardly seems fazed by the pressures of taking such a daunting path — “this is a challenge that has been presented to me,” he said Thursday.

He plans to get into spring training drills right away alongside his Giants team, throwing batting practice or hitting fungoes in an effort to help improve some fundamentals.

Even if his arm is beat up at age 47 and San Francisco's new manager makes it clear his own skills are a far cry from those of the players he will be leading after landing the job with no professional experience as a player or

See Full Page