Tennessee Vols head baseball coach Tony Vitello obviously doesn't have any issues with players showing emotion in big moments.
After all, we've seen plenty of emotional outbursts from Vols players during the Vitello era.
Vitello, however, does think that players should understand that there are times when the emotional outbursts should be put in the back pocket.
One such moment came earlier this season when a Texas A&M Aggies pitcher yelled at Tennessee after beating the Vols by 11 runs at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Aggies LHP Kaiden Wilson let out some emotion after finishing off a 17-6 win against the Vols in April.
Nearly a year earlier, though, Wilson gave up a home run to Tennessee outfielder Dylan Dreiling in the College World Series finals.
They don't make 'em any more CLUTCH than DYLAN DREILING!
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) June 23, 2024
LET'S GOOOO!
https://t.co/dOromFvTCS (ABC)#GBO // #OTH // #MCWS // #BeatTAMU pic.twitter.com/sWK0xhyhWX
"Amazingly, there's some guys -- there's one goofball, Dreiling hit that homer off him in the College World Series final and then he's yelling on our field a year later when they beat us by a bunch of runs," said Vitello this week on The Tony Basilio Show. "It's kind of like, have some perspective there, dude. So I don't always like that (emotional outburst), long story short."
Vitello's detractors may scoff at that comment, but I think he's spot on. There's a time and place for that kind of emotion in sports. That's especially true in baseball. You gotta be able to read the situation and understand the moment. And screaming like that after winning a game by 11 runs after giving up a massive home run in a much bigger game a year earlier certainly wasn't a good example of Wilson "understanding the moment".
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