SAN DIEGO — His feet were bare. His wet hair clung to his neck. His black hoodie was soaked. And he smelled strongly of Irish Spring.

If this whole major league manager gig goes the way that the San Francisco Giants envision, then there will be plenty of occasions when Tony Vitello will conduct a professional postgame interview while reeking of beer and other beverages sprayed in celebration. For Vitello’s first victory in professional baseball, though, he thought it prudent to get cleaned up for the cameras.

So after the Giants held on for a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park Monday night, Vitello followed the beer shower he received from his players with a conventional one. Then he padded in bare feet into the concrete passageway where reporters awaited him.

“It’s a long story,” Vitello said.

Giants’ first win was never in doubt 😅 pic.twitter.com/R99laGgdQx

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) March 31, 2026

Just not a novel one. The Giants gave their 47-year-old manager the same rite of passage that they reserve for rookie pitchers who win their first game: a short commute to the showers in a laundry cart and then a proper dousing. The best stuff wasn’t spilled, though. Willy Adames presented Vitello with a bottle of champagne that you can’t get on the top shelf of your local Safeway. Matt Chapman also spoke to the group, as did Jerar Encarnacion.

“Last time I was in a cart was at KMart,” Vitello said. “So that should tell you how long ago. I don’t even know if some of you know KMart existed. I was definitely in grade school.”

Attention KMart shoppers: This was more than Vitello’s first victory. It was more than exhalation for a team that scored one run while losing three home games to the New York Yankees to start the season. It was a show of acceptance and belonging from a group of seasoned major league players to a manager who came straight from the University of Tennessee with no previous professional playing or coaching experience.

It’s required for players to show deference to their boss. It’s not required to form a personal connection with them. So even as Vitello tried to deflect attention onto Landen Roupp, Harrison Bader and the three relievers who helped alleviate any hand wringing associated with team’s 0-3 start, the manager had to admit that the postgame celebration was a pretty darn cool bonding exercise for the group.

“The burning’ll let you know,” Vitello said, smiling. “Some of these guys have been slower to come out of their shell with me, but it’s little moments like that, or breaking camp or opening day where I think the bond grows a little bit. I really get a sense like, no matter what happens, this group is going to get a lot closer together as the year goes on.”

“Oh, we got him good,” Adames said. “That was a cool experience to get the boss like that. You could tell he was living it up. He looked like a little kid.”

“… I’ll be plotting my revenge.”

Tony Vitello’s eyes were stinging after the Giants gave him an “everything shower” for his first MLB win 😂 pic.twitter.com/ml63TSSvJa

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) March 31, 2026

A reworked lineup with Adames at the top and Luis Arraez in the cleanup spot relied on production from the bottom three hitters. Bader gave the Giants their first lead of the season when he pummeled a hanging breaking ball from Walker Buehler for a home run leading off the third inning. Nos. 8-9 hitters Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt flared RBI singles in the fourth.

Roupp made it stand up, throwing six shutout innings while pitching for the first time since he was carted off this same field on Aug. 20 of last season. The right-hander had been struck by a line drive off the bat of Ramon Laureano and then hyperextended his left knee while scrambling after the ball. It was a season-ending injury and it could have prompted the Giants to sign a third 10-figure starting pitcher along with Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle over the winter. But scans showed nothing more than a bone bruise and Roupp was throwing side sessions a month later.

In an impressive season debut, he cut, curved and changed speeds while scattering two hits and two walks.

“I just felt in control the whole game, even with runners base,” Roupp said. “Just had everything working for me.”

Although Roupp downplayed making his debut at Petco Park, saying he just wanted to compete, he had a gleam in his eye when asked if it felt good to strike out Laureano in their first confrontation.

“Yeah, it did,” Roupp said.

Roupp came off the mound to a wave of handshakes after the sixth inning and a Giants bullpen assembled on the fly this spring went into lead-protection mode for the first time. Vitello had no need to consider any mid-inning pitching changes in the seventh or eighth. Left-hander Matt Gage used his deceptive, back-turning delivery to generate three quick contact outs. Then right-hander Keaton Winn, embracing a new role in a conversion from the Triple-A rotation, used his dominating splitter to strike out all three batters he faced.

As expected, Ryan Walker received the first save chance and his inning was not nearly as clean. He issued a leadoff walk to Jake Cronenworth, and with the Padres down to their last strike, Jackson Merrill perked up the ballpark with a two-run home run. Vitello responded with a show of trust. After a quick mound visit from pitching coach Justin Meccage, Walker got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to end it.

“There’s some microchip in those guys that know they just need to get to the finish line,” Vitello said. “So I’m all for all three of those relieving efforts. Keaton was really special, but it’s hard to say he was better than Gage. So all in all, a great night, and it kind of stinks that focus shifts to the first win for me. I’m honored with all the attention, but tonight, it’s fitting that our first win is a strong pitching effort. … If that’s a theme that continues throughout this year, we’ll be in games.”

Vitello’s first congratulatory handshake was with Frank Anderson, whom he brought from Tennessee to be the Giants’ director of pitching. Infield coach Ron Washington, who owns 763 managerial wins over 10 major league seasons, was among the next wave, along with bench coach and former Padres manager Jayce Tingler, who goes back with Vitello to their playing days at the University of Missouri.

“It was like a pretty good weight lifted,” Tingler said. “Seeing how hard he’s been grinding, and everybody’s been grinding, it feels like now we can relax and play ball. But it’s super special to be next to him for that moment. We got the first one out of the way so now we work to start stacking them up. Everybody knows and feels it’s the first of many.”

In addition to the celebration with players, Vitello had another moment in the visiting manager’s office with his staff, as well as team president Buster Posey, GM Zack Minasian and vice president Jeremy Shelley.

“It’s hard to comprehend, because I’ve got the same disease as every other coach,” Vitello said. “You want the proper guys to get their props, which really was a lot of guys, especially if you include defense. And you also look ahead to the next game and an opportunity to win a series down here and continue things in the right direction. So it’ll probably soak in getting back to the hotel. But yeah, it’s pretty special.”

It has a chance to soak in when you don’t take the time to towel off.

Or you could just take inspiration from Kanye West.

“I really don’t feel like there’s been a tightness, like waiting for bad things to happen, or guys yelling at each other,” Vitello said. “I just think there’s been an emotional charge of really wanting to do well. If you ask Kanye — I think he’s out with a new album — if you try hard, you die hard. Strange fellow, but he don’t miss much on the music, not that you asked.”

There might be some Kanye in the Giants’ victory soundtrack. Reporters don’t enter the clubhouse for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the song mix. This correspondent can confirm after hearing “Ride Like the Wind” that the Giants are almost certainly the first major league team (in a generation at least) to embrace some solid yacht-rock era Christopher Cross.

If you’re of a certain age, you might have even purchased that cassette tape at KMart.