Anchor Of Gold - All Posts

A new look coming for Anchor Of Gold in August

2025-07-24T12:00:00-04:00

Our coverage remains the same but with a new look

In just a couple of weeks, Anchor Of Gold is switching to a new platform as part of SB Nation’s network-wide move to a new publishing platform. This will change the look of the site and also make it faster and more reliable on any device you use. This is an upgrade.

When you land on the site, it will look cleaner – less clunky, with more white space, a better ad experience with faster load times – but will still have all the usual articles, analysis, and news by all the folks you know.

Community discussion and content created by you will be more prominent in the new design. The best comment threads will be easy to find, and staff and commenters alike will be able to start conversations whenever they like with a brand new tool.

We’re planning on an early August reveal, so we wanted to give you a heads up. You’ll hear more from us when it’s almost here. The site will look a little different, feel a little faster, and, most importantly, have a bigger role for you, the community.

So, stick around and check it out!

Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: Inca Empire

2025-07-24T08:52:48-04:00

Photo by Antonio Cascio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Incansanity!

Previous Results

Georgian throat yodeling was displaced by “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and Hawaii was easily taken by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s “Over the Rainbow.”

See our list of all previous winners.

Speaking of things Anchor of Gold voted for: AOG voted for the Inca Empire, because of course AOG would do that. Anchor of Gold also awarded Bruno Mars zero votes for Hawaii. I’d note that adding 2020s music is clearly a waste of time, but I don’t imagine that’ll be a problem with the Incas.

Let’s see how long I can avoid pipe music.

The Songs

1) Juan Perez de Bocanegra - Hanacpachap Cussicuinin

Let’s head all the way back to 1631! Bocanegra was a Catholic friar who lived in Peru, and wrote this hymn in the Quechua language to make it more accessible to the Incas. It’s the first known polyphonic composition created in the Americas, although really, who knows what the Mayans or Aztecs or the Mississippian culture up at Cahokia were really doing.

You could’ve told me this was a composition by Palestrina or Gabrieli and I’m pretty sure I would’ve just nodded and went “Yes, I have heard of those Renaissance composers.”

Is that seriously it for non-pipe music? Really? Hang on, I’ve still got one nonsense trick up my sleeve.

2) Animaniacs - Lake Titicaca

Let’s get weird! I particularly enjoy the contrast of the first two entries: An 8-minute piece that drones on like War and Peace, and this little ditty that ends faster than a Karl Dorrell offensive drive.

Okay fine, I’m out of non-pipe music now.

3) K’ala Marka - Cuando Floresca el Chuño

The crowd size is actually pretty impressive, and they’re clearly having a blast. And I’m having a blast watching. Good for them.

I do actual research (like, entire seconds of it) for these articles. My research here was looking up Incan playlists on Spotify, and this was the first song on both playlists. The Spotify versions were by a different group called Inka Marka, but unfortunately the YouTube video was only the album cover, so let’s go with this K’ala Marka concert because it’s pretty great too.

(I will note Inka Marka did have a video of an absolutely incredible cover of “Perfidia,” but come on, that’s not an Incan song. I can’t include that. I mean what would I do next, find an Incan cover of Unchained Melody?)

4) Inka Gold - Unchained Melody

Oh of course there’s an Incan cover of Unchained Melody. And it’s got 27 million plays on YouTube! Are we sure this isn’t a Zamfir commercial? Can anyone actually prove that?

Are they just playing in an abandoned storefront? I can’t disprove that either.

Well if we’re doing this, I demand a correction:

5) Inka Marka - Perfidia

YEAH, BABY! Inka Marka’s in, and they’re knocking this out of the park, or at least out of some Australian mall! Check out the guy on the left playing a pipe and at least three different pieces of percussion, and the guy on the right working a guitar and two sets of pipes. Or if you don’t want to do that, laugh at somebody’s completely lost aunt wandering into frame around 2:15.

I mean I’m probably biased because I’ve got The Ventures’ cover version as a ringtone, but come on. This is amazing. Vote for this already.

That’s enough about old-school music. Let’s go old-school in a very different direction:

6) Wayanay Inka - Sueños del Inka

You see how this looks like it was filmed on a potato? That’s because it basically was. This was uploaded to YouTube on January 22, 2007, back when 240p video quality was standard and we were grateful for 360p videos. This is the oldest YouTube video I’ve stumbled over in the wild in a long, long time.

Do you realize there are about to be friggin’ college freshman who are younger than this YouTube upload? If that doesn’t make you feel old, get off my lawn.

Oh, the song itself is called “Dreams of the Inca,” and it’s pretty cool and ethereal. I would listen to this again. There, I said something relevant.

Honorable Mentions

Jimmy Durante, Inka Dinka Doo

You have no idea how hard I had to restrain myself from including this, especially after the last 3 entries were bands spelled “Inka.” That’s a trumpet!

Therion, Quetzalcoatl

Hey, it’s another honorable mention from my favorite Swedish symphonic metal band! Granted, Quetzalcoatl was Aztec and not Inca, or I would’ve shoehorned this in there too.

Vote in the Polls

We’re going to try to set these to close after a few days again. I remain terrified these newfound attempts at competence are going to do something to ruin the site.

Up Next: The Letter J

And it’s our first letter without a US state! This is Anchor of Gold, let’s make this as nonsense as possible:

Let’s Get Weird Again—All World All Time Best Song Competition: Hawaii

2025-07-15T14:01:03-04:00

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Wherein controversy roils our charming little contest!

Previous Result

We don’t know yet! I was all set to award it to throat yodeling, but at least two of you are aghast at the lack of ~~Freedom Rock~~ the Allman Brothers. And come to think of it, the Charlie Daniels Band overtook it in the end too, so we’re including a chance for a veto.

As requested: We now have a list of all previous winners. (Apparently the formatting on mobile was wonky, and that should be fixed.) Click the country for the AOG article, and the song title for a YouTube link.

You picked Hawaii in a much less controversial vote, so we’ll get to that now:

The Songs

1) King Benny Nawahi - Ticklin’ The Strings

This is from all the way back in 1929, and check out King Benny here absolutely setting a steel guitar on fire. Was this guy the Jimi Hendrix of a century ago or something? How is he possibly getting that much sound out of a steel guitar?

It really is kind of incredible this is 96 years old. Right in the middle of the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression setting in, and the aftermath of the Great War. Gotta respect people like this, working their asses off to offer a few minutes of joy and escape from the state of...well, everything. I feel the same way about the Three Stooges.

Wait, does that say “Sol Hoopii” in the top right? IT DOES. Well I know what our next entry is.

2) Sol Hoopii - I Like You

Thanks, Sol! We like you too, and your name! Apparently this is from 1930, so everything I said up there about King Benny also applies here. I like King Benny’s instrumental a little better, but you’re the voters.

Man, both these guys were born a couple of decades too early. Can you imagine how in demand they could have been in Nashville as steel guitar session guitarists? They could’ve just bought Hawaii and made Guam the 50th state in 1959.

It is neat to see how technology has allowed these older recordings to be cleaned up, though. That recording was released in 2006, and it’s clean as a sheet. The same recording was released in 1987, and the hiss from old media is clearly audible. It’s also how we managed to one final new Beatles song in 2023, so Hail Pinman.

Granted, before long someone will start releasing new AI “recordings” of them, except the lyrics will be a glurge of nonsense.

3) Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Over the Rainbow

1.5 billion viewers on YouTube can absolutely be wrong, but they aren’t with this one.

Iz very publicly struggled with obesity his entire life, exceeding 750 pounds at one point. His heart gave out at age 38. Take care of yourselves and each other, y’all. Life is hard.

The Hawaiian government had his casket laid at the state capital (still the only non-official to receive this honor), and the state flag flown at half-staff for his funeral.

Anyway, this is charming.

4) Don Ho - Tiny Bubbles

I KEEP MY THREATS. Most of them are just scribbled incoherently in crayon and say things like “Beat UT-Martin in football,” but...wait, why does Vanderbilt never play UT-Martin, anyway? I mean you’d think they’d be thrilled to visit Nashville or, frankly, anywhere but Martin, wouldn’t you? Maybe that’s it, Austin Peay can just call them up and they go OMG CLARKSVILLE ROAD TRIP. You could probably get them fired up about going to Mizzou. Where was I?

Oh right, Don Ho.

5) Bruno Mars - That’s What I Like

Fine, here, have some Bruno Mars song I picked entirely for its view count.

To be honest, that’s partially a lie. My easily confused brain went “wait, did he collaborate on with Flo Rida on that song from the Peanuts movie?” and as it turns out, no he didn’t. And he appeared to have the budget of a final season Star Trek episode for this video, but never mind that.

Anyway, go vote for King Benny Nawahi. Or Don Ho, who am I to tell you how to live your life. Oh wait, we forgot one last entry:

6) The Ventures - Hawaii Five-O

“They aren’t from Hawaii!” SHUT UP, THIS IS AWESOME. And so are those sideburns! Holy cow, what facial hair. Ambrose Burnside himself would approve.

Honorable Mention

Bette Midler - The Rose

Also known as that song the same woman sings at karaoke every week to drag the room to a screeching halt. Hurry it up, there’s some drunks over there ready to do a hilariously off-key version of Rare Earth’s “Get Ready” (which is hilariously off-key to begin with, to be fair).

Vote in the Polls

I’m going to try to set these to close after a few days...let’s say Thursday evening? That’s right, I’m attempting to show competence. This will not end well.

Up Next: The Letter I

Off Topic Polling: Weird Al

2025-07-14T22:45:01-04:00

Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images

I’m stuck in a closet with Vanna White, so why not do a poll post?

So the baseball draft is over, I just bought a house, and we all know what the convergence of those two things means here at Anchor of Gold... we need to talk about Weird Al.

Let me explain. My hotel room’s turlet decided to crap out out of nowhere (seriously, I hadn’t even used it yet), so I twatted (Elon’d?) out this:

Hotel turlet's running, so the front desk gave me another room... but didn't take the keys from the former room. You know what that means? Andrew VU '04 goes full Chingy on this Microtel by Wyndham.https://t.co/ERVCP0sa8N
— Andrew VU '04 (@AndrewVU041) July 15, 2025

In the time it took me to twat/Elon that, youtube went to Chamillionare’s “Ridin’ (feat. Krayzie Bone).” If you don’t know the song, Chamillionaire repeatedly accuses the highway patrol of profiling him, while also admitting to having an unregistered weapon in his car, basically.

Long story short, songs like that trigger the inner eight-year-old in me and I sing the entirety of the Weird Al version while the original version plays. As such, I thought I’d reach out to you degenerates to find out which Weird Al version of a song is definitively vastly superior to the original. For obvious reasons, I will not include his accordion-based polka covers of many songs, despite many of them being clearly superior to the original. I will also not include the “Normal Al” acoustic unplugged versions, but mostly because they don’t exist, regardless of how much my subconscious wants them to. Okay, onto the songs:

Battle #1: Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” vs. Weird Al’s “Like a Surgeon.”

The ironic thing here is Madonna is a million times weirder than Al, and not just because Al was never involved in an orgy with Dennis Rodman (though, of course, there is still time). Still, the Madonna song is really stupid. Like really stupid. Whereas Al’s version doubles down on the stupidity and include’s ironic distance. Ah fuck it, I’m not going to drag you bastards into cultural appreciation... let’s just go with a tale of the tape.

Madonna “Like a Virgin”

vs. Weird Al “Like a Surgeon”

Verdict: Weird Al, but by a small amount. Madonna’s cutesy Betty Boop voice is annoying, but Al’s is somehow even moreso. Al doesn’t really do anything here other than a poetic conceit (an extended metaphor throughout the whole song), but with one homophonic bit or wordplay. Okay, he includes some medical sounds in the music, too. We’ve go to give him that. Because Madonna also does the conceit, Al wins by a hair. A very long, oddly curly hair, but a hair, nonetheless. I had to start with the barest of victories to set up the massive knockouts later. Also, this gave child me nightmares, so there’s that.

Battle #2: Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” vs. Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise.”

Oh this one will not be particularly close. Coolio tried to be all serious in this one, but his hairstyle completely derailed his goal. Beyond that, Al always reaches out to the original artist to ask if he can parody their songs. There’s literally never a downside to the original artist, as it just puts their song back into the zeitgeist and makes them more money, so most immediately say yes. Hell, Dire Strait’s Mark Knopfler told Al that he could only parody “Money for Nothing” if he, Mark Knopfler, played the guitar on the track. Some people are cool, I’m saying. Coolio? Oh he chose to be a complete dick. Al had the law on his side, of course, so just parodied it anyway, but I have to assume that spite powered this parody to be worlds better than Michelle Pfeiffer teaching an inner city kid to dance, or whatever the hell went on in that white-savior movie.

Coolio “Gangsta’s Paradise”

vs. Weird Al “Amish Paradise”

Verdict: I would like to report a murder. Weird Al, by a million Amish barns. Coolio’s problem was he tried to take himself way too seriously here. Al went hard in his parody. Honestly, if the Amish could see this, they would be none too pleased. I honestly want to know what the escaped cult members who leave after Rumspringa think about this, but I know none, and don’t really want to find any to ask. Regardless, Al straight up murders Coolio, lyric-wise here. In 8th grade, the teachers claimed we could vote for a graduation song, and they would honor the democratic process. As you can imagine, 13 year-old me campaigned hard for this song, and it won in a landslide. The administration then went completely back on their word and instead chose the dumb song written and performed by a fellow student. It was called “Like a Bird Without a Song,” and we had heard it at every middle school function the entire time we were middle schoolers. I’m not trying to shit on the classmates who wrote and performed said song, but I am a defender of democracy. You lost. I would not have performed a losing song, as I have pride, but whatever...

Battle #3: Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’ Dirty” vs. Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy.”

This one prompted the article, and though I believe Al takes it, it’s not as brutal a beating as some of his other parodies. Still, the central conceit in Al’s version is Emily Dickinson-style explored, whereas Chamillionaire just repeats the same idea over and over. We get it Chamillionaire... you ride with unlicensed weapons. Al, however, can never be respected by the gangstas...

Chamillionaire “Ridin’ Dirty”

vs. Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy”

Verdict: I would like to report another murder. Honestly, if Weird Al chooses to parody a rapper, they should probably shut things down. This is another Emily Dickinson-level conceit, as this extended metaphor both extends and, umm, metaphors? More than anything, the contrast between the original and the parody allows the parody to pop. Personal note: I had the wedding DJ at my brother’s wedding play this. In case you’re wondering why, well, he was a computer science and electrical engineering double major and his friends were... umm... worse? To their credit, they 100% knew what I was doing, why I did it, and agreed with it. Those nerds were all right.

Battle #4: The Greg Kihn Band “Jeopardy” vs. Weird Al’s “I Lost on Jeopardy.”

The Greg Kihn Band “Jeopardy”

vs. Weird Al’s “I Lost on Jeopardy”

Verdict: I actually love the original song here, so I cannot report another murder. Beyond that, Al does a pretty much 1-to-1 parody of this song—only changing the words, but keeping everything else. That said, it is another epic Emily Dickinson-esque conceit/extended metaphor, and the idea that Al is losing hard to a plumber with a PhD is amazing. Still, I can’t imagine a more obvious parody for the original song than what Al did.

Battle #5: Lorde “Royals” vs. Weird Al’s “Aluminum Foil.”

Lorde “Royals”

Weird Al “Aluminum Foil”

Verdict: I am Lorde, ya ya ya. No, but seriously, that New Zealand songstress is awesome, and certainly not Randy Marsh. That said, Al kills it here, and not only because he goes full M. Knight Shamalamalamalam about halfway through and facetiously mocks the tinfoil hat dumbasses who currently run our government. Yeah... he couldn’t have predicted this, but here we are. Anyway, what do you think?

Vanderbilt Football 2025 Position Preview: Wide Receiver

2025-07-14T13:00:00-04:00

Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Two of Vanderbilt’s top three receivers must be replaced.

In some ways, Vanderbilt’s wide receiver corps in 2024 had the same story as the running backs: a few reliable pass catchers, but little explosiveness. And two of the top three receivers from 2024 are now gone, with Quincy Skinner and Loic Fouonji graduating.

The difference? There were a couple of freshmen who didn’t play much in 2024 whose upside I like, and there was some transfer portal activity. We’ll see how it translates on the field in 2025, but I can talk myself into this group.

Starters, I guess

Junior Sherrill, junior: Sherrill wasn’t Vanderbilt’s leading pass catcher in 2024 — that would be Eli Stowers — but to the extent Vanderbilt had a go-to wide receiver, it was Sherrill, who had 29 catches for 411 yards and three touchdowns. Sherrill’s ideal location is the slot, so Vanderbilt could really use somebody else to emerge as a deep threat.

Trent Hudson, redshirt senior: Had 36 catches for 571 yards and 10 touchdowns at New Mexico State in 2023, then transferred to Mississippi State where... he basically didn’t play, getting into four games and not registering any stats. For a truly shitty Mississippi State team. Anyway, I’m telling myself that this is an example of Jeff Lebby’s incompetence.

Richie Hoskins, redshirt senior: Against all logic, he keeps playing and keeps making catches in important spots, with 11 for 131 yards and two touchdowns last season. He’s a former walk-on and looks like he should not be playing at this level. He will somehow glue himself to the field and end up making the most important catch this season.

Or maybe it’s these guys

Joseph McVay, redshirt freshman: Caught one pass in 2024. It was a 65-yard touchdown. We could use more of that. Where he fits in this season, I’m not sure. If Vanderbilt really can’t find a guy to stretch the field, it might be this guy.

Boski Barrett, redshirt freshman: Another three-star prospect coming out of high school who redshirted last season. He’s a bit undersized at 5’11” and 175, so he’s probably ticketed to be Sherrill’s backup in the slot.

Chance Fitzgerald, redshirt sophomore: Played two seasons at Virginia Tech and basically only saw action on special teams. I don’t know, I guess the coaching staff saw something they liked here.

Tre Richardson, junior: Played at a JUCO and Division II Washburn, whose nickname is the Ichabods, so I like him already. Averaged 18.8 yards per reception at Washburn, so I like him more. Also had an impact in the return game. I may be underrating this guy, though “5’10”/175 and just transferred from a Division II school” does leave me with some questions about how this translates.

Return specialist, probably

Tristen Brown, sophomore: Played in ten games as a true freshman and had three receptions for 27 yards, all against Alcorn State. So... not sure why we burned a redshirt year there. I suspect that the coaching staff views Brown as primarily a return guy, though I can’t prove this.

Freshmen

Kayleb Barnett, freshman: On the one hand, he’s 5’8” and 180 pounds. On the other hand, “won state championships in the 100 meters” is the kind of thing I like to see in my undersized wide receivers. There’s been a long line of guys like this — Jayden McGowan, Darrius Sims, among others — whom Vanderbilt has never figured out what to do with.

Lebron Hill, freshman: Has good size at 6’5” and 200 pounds, though he was only a three-star recruit so I don’t know how close he is to contributing or if the coaching staff is going to decide “yeah, let’s turn him into a tight end” as seems to frequently occur with guys who are 6’5”.

MLB Draft Day One Recap and Day Two Live Thread

2025-07-14T09:22:39-04:00

Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Three Diamond Dores and two commits were tabbed in the first three rounds last night. As always, I’m more happy about the former than the latter.

Quick Recap from Aria

Day 1 of the MLB Draft has concluded. Three Vanderbilt players have been selected in the top 3 rounds (JD Thompson in round 2, RJ Austin + Cody Bowker in round 3).

Four commits have been drafted, but top lefties Aiden Stillman + Talon Haley are still on the board
— Aria Gerson (@aria_gerson) July 14, 2025

My Thoughts on Last Night:

First, congratulations to JD “Terror Lake” Thompson (2nd Rd; Pick 59; Brewers), RJ “Stone Cold” Austin (3rd Rd; Pick 92; Orioles), and Cody “Bowser” Bowker (3rd Rd; Pick 100; Phillies). Though Terror Lake went about where he was expected to, Austin and Bowker were more projection/traits/tools picks than chosen where their performance in 2025 would merit.

Speaking of Bowker, the Phillies became the last MLB team to draft a Diamond Dore in the Corbin era (though, in fairness, the Mets still have not signed one). Let’s just take a moment to reflect on how crazy that is—both in terms of the overall success of Tim Corbin’s reign as Baseball Czar, and how poorly the Phillies have drafted over the last 20+ years. The Mets, as always, suck hard.

On the commit front, the big three we were worried would go in the first round—Hernandez, Gamble, and de Brun—did in fact go in the first round, with The Pirates tabbing Seth Hernandez at pick #6, The Royals taking Sean Gamble at pick #23, and The Orioles taking Slater de Brun at pick #37 (yes, people generally still consider those competitive balance rounds to be “the first round”). Then, a 4th commit, SS Cooper Flemming, was taken pick #53 in the 2nd round by Tampa. That one hurt a bit, but he had helium late, so it wasn’t shocking.

Before you ask in the comments... They will all sign with the teams that drafted them. Stop asking if NIL can buy them away or any other version of this question. MLB teams have been in talks with the representatives of every player and simply don’t draft them unless they know 1) they will be able to sign them and 2) at what precise signing bonus. In short, teams get a “Bonus Pool” based on the slot values of their top 10 round picks, and pretty much lose that slot value worth of money if the player they pick doesn’t sign. Now, if they sign a bunch of players to underslot deals, they can use that extra bonus money for tougher signings—be that in the top 10 rounds, or later in the draft. I.e. if the Phillies sign Cody Bowker for $500K, but pick 100 is slotted at $765,400, they will have $265,400 extra to sign someone else, either within the top 10 rounds, or after the top 10 rounds. Usually if teams have squirreled away like a million or so through the top 10 rounds, they go for a riskier signing in round 11—see what Houston did with Ryan Clifford or what Baltimore did with Mighty Carter Young.

They’re all gone. Stop asking.

If all of our remaining commits come to campus, this still can be a good pitching class, though it’s not ideal that our top incoming bats—two best OFs and best SS—will not be coming to campus, or that we only had one more commit who is not a pitcher. It does make our Transfer Portal decisions make a lot more sense, of course.

Oh, and we literally only have one other offensive player in the class, and it’s a catcher, Korbin Reynolds, who is ranked #435 overall and the 43rd best catcher in the class by Perfect Game. That’s more a profile that reads “redshirt candidate” than “first year performer.”

Our top two remaining commits we need to get to campus now are both LHPs—Aiden Stillman and Talon Haley. If they make it to campus, some of the other pitchers prove capable as freshmen—at least in the bullpen—Riley “The Vice-Admiral” Nelson returns for his senior year, and the transferrin’ Johnstone brothers mash, we should be all right. I’m not entirely sure what our rotation will look like, but Brodie, Braden, and Rooster could be absolute stars. Not sure I can even squint my way towards title contention, but we should still be an NCAA Tournament team. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I’m not going to sugar coat things.

Today will be rounds 3-20 and start at 10:30am CT on MLB.com/MLB.TV. Feel free to use this comment section as a live thread, but you have got to be out of your mind if you believe I’m going to be staring at my computer through the entire thing. I’ll check in from time to time to update, of course, and recap it all tomorrow.

Anchor Drop: 47 Days to Kickoff

2025-07-14T08:00:00-04:00

Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images

Uh, well, I guess we lost some commits to the MLB Draft.

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

We are now 47 days away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against Charleston Southern. 47 for the Commodores is kicker Justin Dewers. The 6’2”, 190-pound freshman from Plano, Texas, was apparently the #11 kicker in the class? Really flew under the radar. Of course, he’s not going to displace the Brocket Launcher.

The first three rounds of the MLB Draft came and went last night and... well, four commits are gone. Andrew was expecting Seth Hernandez, Slater de Brun, and Sean Gamble to all go in the first round, and all three did, Hernandez somehow lasting until the sixth pick where the Pirates will almost certainly waste him alongside Paul Skenes. The more surprising one was Cooper Flemming to the Rays at 53, though that wasn’t unexpected by any stretch. Current players J.D. Thompson, RJ Austin, and Cody Bowker also got drafted in the first three rounds, but we weren’t expecting any of them to return.

Sports on TV

All times Central.

5:30 AM: Cycling: Tour de France, Stage 10 (Peacock)
7:00 PM: MLB: Home Run Derby (ESPN)

Scoreboard

MLB: Cubs 4, Yankees 1 ... Marlins 11, Orioles 1 ... Red Sox 4, Rays 1 ... Reds 4, Rockies 2 ... Mariners 8, Tigers 4 ... Guardians 6, White Sox 5 ... Royals 3, Mets 2 ... Pirates 2, Twins 1 ... Brewers 8, Nationals 1 ... Rangers 5, Astros 1 ... Cardinals 5, Braves 4 ... Dodgers 5, Giants 2 ... A’s 6, Blue Jays 3 ... Diamondbacks 5, Angels 1 ... Phillies 2, Padres 1.

2025 MLB Draft Day One (Rounds 1 -3) Live Thread

2025-07-13T17:00:00-04:00

Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB via Getty Images

With a strong commit class, we’ll all be watching nervously tonight. Expect JD “Terror Lake” Thompson to hear his name called tonight, as well. Grab a beer and join us in the comments.

2025 MLB Draft: 5pm CT on ESPN, MLB Network, and MLB.com

Day One of the draft as a Vanderbilt baseball fan is usually equal parts hoping our boys are taken and praying they’re not. For the draft eligible Diamond Dores, we wish they get taken as highly as possible (well, most of them... I want all the draft eligible sophomores plus Sawyer “Exit the Warrior” Hawks and Riley “The Vice-Admiral” Nelson back). Of course, if someone like RJ Austin doesn’t get the bonus number he’s looking for, we will welcome him back for his senior year like we did Vastine last year. For the commits, we cross our fingers and fill up Jobu’s rum in the hopes that they make it to campus.

Anyway, for more on the names to keep an eye on tonight, click here for the current players, and here for the commits.

See you in the comments.