Tennessee Volunteers baseball coach Tony Vitello was thrown out of his team's loss to the Auburn Tigers on Sunday. Vitello had just watched two runs walked in when he decided it was time to let the umpires know exactly how he felt about it. Vitello had words for all four umpires working the game as he headed for dugout, which is where he really took things to another level by throwing a chair.
You can watch the entire tirade here with the video starting the first bases-loaded walk of the inning. Then you'll see a questionable check swing call, followed by another bases-loaded walk. That's when Vitello decides he's had enough.
The amount of leeway he actually gets here is quite impressive. He yelled at the home plate umpire, then walked onto the field to shout at the umpire at third and then the guy at second. And he doesn't even get tossed until after he did this move:
Of course, the best part of this by far was his final act as he walked off the field. Without breaking stride he grabbed a chair and tossed it backwards. He didn't really throw the chair. It was like one of those moves where someone knocks some papers off someone's desk as they walk by. The camerawork here is perfect as it zooms in on the chair that's been tossed aside as a final act of defiance.
Tony Vitello giving everyone an ear full! Not even the chair in the dugout is safe pic.twitter.com/0K6YeUNVsW
— Paige Dauer (@PaigeDauerFDP) May 4, 2025
Tony Vitello: Our hero pic.twitter.com/2aFFKax3oT
— Austin Brown (@Austin_Vols) May 4, 2025
Overall, an entertaining, efficient ejection with a simple, but beautiful flourish on the end.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tennessee Coach’s Ejection Capped With Subtle, But Effective Chair Toss.
