Tony Vitello of the SF Giants, Jayce Tingler reunited two decades after college

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Tony Vitello, Jayce Tingler and the Missouri Tigers want one last hurrah.

Following the Tigers’ loss to Mississippi State in the 2003 NCAA Starkville Regional, Vitello, Tingler and the Missouri baseball team returned to Columbia, Missouri and met at Harpo’s Bar and Grill. Vitello, a volunteer trainer, and Tingler, an elderly walker, chatted over drinks. Vitello remembers the conversation vividly.

“I remember talking about a coach I liked and respected in college, and he said, ‘You can be better than that guy.’ I never forgot that,” recalled Vitello on Saturday morning. “I know exactly where I was sitting. I know what was happening. Obviously I didn’t lose my strength because I remember well what he said and it stayed with me.”

As for whether Tingler remembers the conversation?

“I don’t remember many days at Harpo’s,” said Tingler with a smile. “But Tony has always been different. He’s always connected with people, players. … I think that’s probably one of his greatest gifts – he has many gifts. But the way he communicates, the way he connects with people, he’s always different.”

More than two decades later, Vitello and Tingler met again in San Francisco, their first chance to work together since Vitello was a coach and Tingler was a player on that 2003 Missouri team. Vitello has never practiced the game in the big league dugout, but Tingler, his bench coach, provides plenty of valuable experience and insight.

It doesn’t hurt that the two are friends.

“If I can take a risk for a while, you need colleagues and you have to depend on people, but you also need a friend,” Vitello said. “I think having someone who has talked about all the situations you can find in this game, is important from the professional side but also from the personal side.”

There aren’t many commitments the 45-year-old Tingler hasn’t had over two decades and more in professional football.

Tingler spent the past four seasons as the Minnesota Twins bench coach under Rocco Baldelli, where he had the opportunity to work with new second baseman Luis Arráez. Prior to his time in Minnesota, Tingler managed the San Diego Padres in 2020 and ’21, finishing second in the 2020 NL Manager of the Year voting.

From 2007-19, Tingler held many different roles in the Texas Rangers organization. That included being a coach (’07) and manager in the Dominican Summer League (’08-’09); major league outfield coordinator (’15-’16); assistant general manager (’17); interim bench coach (’18); and major league development field coordinator (’19).

With his experience, Tingler hopes to help Vitello “cover the blind spots” during spring training and the regular season, assigning catching coach and field coordinator Alex Burg to help with the day-to-day routine. Along with Tingler, infield coach Ron Washington, who worked with Tingler with the Texas Rangers, will be a valuable resource.

When it comes to getting Vitello up to speed on all the ins and outs of the rulebook, Tingler joked that Dodgers field coordinator Bob Geren is the only person in baseball who knows all the rules except for the umpires. Tingler said the Giants are looking for “odd plays” and that the staff is constantly studying the video lineup.

“There’s going to be times where I work maybe two or three innings early and give him ideas, but I want to make sure he’s always there,” Tingler said. “I will give him options in terms of movement and situations. … We play 162 (games). The strategy is to play more than that.

“There are going to be some things that come up, and between me and the staff, our goal is to manage other things and keep as much away from Tony’s desk … as possible so he can do his job.”

Before his four-year professional career, which culminated in Double-A, Tingler was a standout at Missouri. Vitello, however, didn’t think Tingler looked the part when he first met him.

“Jayce, now, he’s in shape, but at the time, whatever he was, he was young,” Vitello said in December at the MLB Winter Meetings. “And I said, ‘Who is this guy?’ It boosted my confidence at the time. I thought, ‘Maybe I can join this team.’ Turns out he was our best player. He was also our biggest rival, and he became one of my best friends.”

In college, Vitello and Tingler listened to opposing teams’ practices on Thursday nights. Both were big fans of Texas coach Augie Garrido, who won five College World Series. At one point, the Oklahoma coach thought Vitello was a quarterback and offered him $100.

Vitello graduated a year ahead of Tingler but remained with the program as a volunteer coach. In the 2003 season, Vitello was ahead of Tingler at the position. They remain strong, but the power has changed.

“We killed each other about 17 times that year,” Vitello joked.

“We were butting heads, and it was healthy,” Tingler said. “If he didn’t think I was making an effort, he would have been the first (to call me). But he can do that because of history and relationships. I think the important thing is, I feel right when I say he made me a better player.”

Tim Jamieson, who coached both players at Missouri, remembers that Vitello was the most intense of the two, but noted that neither of them ever crossed the line. Jamieson praised their competitiveness as a team, recalling that “there was never a time when they lost fire or gave up or stopped competing.”

“They’re two peas in a pod as it relates to sports and how to win, teaching, their knowledge and their passion for all of those things,” said Jamieson, currently director of program development at Missouri. Both are extremely competitive. … They will beat you. That was their mentality. They will find a way to beat you.”

“He hasn’t lost weight. He wants to practice jiu jitsu on me out there,” laughed Vitello.