Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello had a great reaction to a "loud fan" during UT's 15-5 win against Kansas State on Tuesday.
Vitello pointed out that a fan wouldn't quit chirping at Vols first baseman Blake Burke during the game on Tuesday evening.
According to Vitello, the chirping motivated Burke, who went 2-for-5 with a couple of doubles.
"Thank you to the fans who stuck it out tonight," said Vitello after the game (via GoVols247's Ben McKee). "I thought we'd have a huge crowd tonight, but the weather wasn't good. And we got one guy out there who's chirping at one of our players, which is rare. That's not rare in the SEC, but it's rare here. And I heard it and Blake heard it, too. That guy probably helped Blake in his next at bat, not that he wanted him to. But he took that motivation into that second AB and drove that thing into left field for good reason."
"I've never seen that guy before -- I don't think he's a loyal fan," added Vitello. "Not worried about that. I saw him over there sipping on a beer. I can't do it now in Knoxville anymore, but I've been to a bar or two and that ain't a guy I'd hang out with and have a beverage with."
I'm not sure what kind of "fan" chirps at players on their favorite team, but good on Vitello for singling that guy out after the game.
Burke, by the way, is hitting .347 with 12 extra base hits through the first 13 games of the season. I'm not sure what there is to chirp at.
But like Vitello said, that guy probably isn't the guy any of us are going to sit down and have a beer with while discussing the latest happenings with Tennessee athletics.
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