iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 10h

“You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me” but it’s midwest fans who expect day playoff baseball to coastal fans who think it’s an MLB screw job

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Connor Fennell came back to Vanderbilt to win a national championship, but his dream of being an MLB player are still in full force. After working at Cressey in the offseason, he says he is up to 92 now and that this #VandyBoys team has a strong desire to win: www.tennessean.com/story/sports...

tennessean.com

Why Connor Fennell turned down MLB draft, returned to Vanderbilt baseball

Here's why pitcher Connor Fennell returned to Vanderbilt baseball after being a 2026 MLB Draft selection by the Chicago White Sox.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I think “overreliance on analytics” can be a thing but people need to specify what they mean by that. Do they mean that the coaches are poor communicators? That training methods are causing injuries or being implemented improperly? That players aren’t bought in to the org’s plan?

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

let it be known that while the injuries have been bad luck, the real problem with the 2026 Chicago Cubs is that they didn't have a single usable MLB pitcher in their entire farm system they could call up so their only options were trades + scrap heap wavier guys when people got hurt

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“Former Princeton basketball player Will Venable” drives me insane. Will Venable played in the big leagues for a long time! He’s not some rando outsider nerd who decided to get into MLB coaching

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My takeaways from the #VandyBoys scrimmage last night:

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Letting the Cy Young winner throw 117 pitches is exactly how playoff baseball should be

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The problem, such as it is, was that the Phillies bullpen just wasn’t good enough, of course you stretch Duran in that situation, who else could they have trusted? It’s bottom of the order and Riley hasn’t been good this year

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Here it is, folks: every SEC player on the MLB Wild Card rosters. Vanderbilt leads with 5 players, LSU has 4. Nine SEC schools are represented. (Only players on actual WC rosters are included. Texas/Oklahoma players from pre-SEC eras are included with an asterisk)

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

if there was a pitcher who was amid a season with an ERA near 7, walking or hitting 1 in every 5 batters he faced, and giving up a homer every 4.5 innings, but he had a three-game stretch in the middle of the season, in which he played in three extreme pitchers parks, where he had a 1.46 ERA...

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I know of many women's sports programs where there are limited pro opportunities for players, where schools that have highly ranked grad programs are at a legit advantage in the portal because players want a free master's!

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

my thoughts on the playoff series... Braves/Phillies This feels like one the Braves either get wrapped up in a sweep, or the Phillies take it in 3, as they would have a big advantage if they can force a game 3. Phillies are hugely disadvantaged by not being able to set up their rotation.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

the good news about the 2026 Chicago Cubs is they are guaranteed to not do a bullpen game in the playoffs

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

the braves fans mad about their team playing a 1 pm playoff game should check in with their local SEC team and whether they chose to play their regional games in the afternoon or at night. the results might surprise them!

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Random Sunday walk-up song opinion but I NEED someone to walk up to Cherry Blossom by Empire of the Sun. @ anyone who currently uses Walking on a Dream, that one is overused but Cherry Blossom needs to be discovered!

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I complain about too-bright headlights in Nashville every day and then I go on a football road trip driving a rental car with headlights so barely-there I can’t see the lane lines on the road so I have to keep flipping the brights on and off depending on whether a car is close

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Welcome to 2050. The Padres traded everyone at the deadline and the Diamondbacks won exactly 85 games and are either on the verge of blowing a playoff berth or the potential beneficiary of another team blowing a playoff berth. They are facing off in Game 162.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

As a beat writer, conversations with scouts are very mutually useful. They can give me honest assessments of players, while I can give them info they might not know if they don’t watch the team every day. I’ve even had a few breakouts I pegged and pointed the scouts in that direction

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Obviously no training style works for everyone but I think it’s very cool that we invented a method to train a player with elite athleticism to translate that athleticism into hitting 45 home runs. If this was even 10 years ago PCA would’ve just been Kevin Kiermaier 2.0!

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I’ve always disliked online shopping unless it’s to get another of something I already have and like. If it’s buying clothes, clothes shopping is fun and I need to be able to try stuff on. If it’s food, I can’t stand someone else picking out my produce for me. And booking travel…

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Vanderbilt will ban oranges from its dining halls from Thursday-Sunday as the soccer team prepares to face Tennessee

“Orange ban - campus dining, #juicethevols”

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

do I think Andrew Fischer is an elite prospect? No, not really. Am I half-convinced that his arrival in the majors will immediately convince the Brewers the error of their ways and realize that a deep-seated desire to hit dingers is the missing piece in all their playoff failures? Well.......

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

In just the second season of its revival, Vanderbilt volleyball is undefeated and boasts one of the country’s most electric offenses entering SEC play. Here’s how a young team started its surge: www.tennessean.com/story/sports...

tennessean.com

How Vanderbilt volleyball, in second season, is undefeated entering SEC play

Vanderbilt volleyball is undefeated entering SEC play against Kentucky in the second season of the program's revival.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

lukewarm take but the Taylor’s versions did help me rediscover some of her older discography. There are some where I like the new version better (Treacherous TV >>>>). But All Too Well…the original version is better. Better than TV. Better than the 10-minute version. I won’t listen to the new ones

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A revelation from Clark Lea and Miles Capers today: Vanderbilt had never previously practiced the play that resulted in the fumble recovery against NC State, which was adapted from special teams. It has now been added to their situational playbook: www.tennessean.com/story/sports...

tennessean.com

Vanderbilt football had never practiced game-winning play vs NC State

According to Miles Capers, Vanderbilt football had never practiced the play in which it forced a decisive fumble in the stunning result vs NC State.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

When NC State kept its offense on the field, presumably to take a safety, Clark Lea ran a field goal block defense. Here’s how the Commodores played until the final whistle and pulled out one of the most improbable plays in recent college football history: www.tennessean.com/story/sports...

tennessean.com

Inside Vanderbilt football miracle finish with fumble recovery vs NC State

Here's how Vanderbilt football pulled off a miracle fumble recovery for touchdown to defeat NC State in Nashville

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Everyone always assumes that I play fantasy baseball and I told someone that I would except I just want to manage the rosters and I'm too lazy to actually set a lineup every day and they suggested I play OOTP to scratch that itch and now I've created multiple dynasties 😂

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

what in the college baseball is this

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

coming in hot with the college baseball takes 😂😈

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

truly can't go a week of the college baseball offseason without complaining about Stuff+ and why transfer relievers are insanely overvalued by the majority of rankings (I have no issue with Stuff+ being used *for player development* but it has no place in determining which college arms are good.)

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This is probably a hot take but I basically don't buy into a single thing I see from returning pitchers in the fall. Way too many guys with a track record are awful in the fall + back to their usual selves in the spring. And guys who see sudden velo increases in the fall way too often...

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Fox shows a shot of Michigan Stadium with the clock showing one second during their pregame package and somehow NBC didn’t have/show that angle?

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Beartown by Frederik Backman is a must-read book for anyone who loves hockey (and really for anyone who loves sports). It’s the best exploration of hockey culture I’ve ever read. It’s a translation, set in Sweden, and proves that this isn’t unique to the US, hockey culture is everywhere hockey is

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Fun fact: there have been 2,000+ games played in MLB this year and the number of games where both teams had double-digit runs (11) just now surpassed the number of games in SEC conference play where both teams had double-digit runs (10, out of 239 total games)

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

a lot of people discoursing like the NCAA is stupid or unique for not allowing the results of a game to be overturned retroactively need to learn about one Armando Galarraga

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Do the Brewers have their roof half open half closed for day games to try to mess up opponents? I cannot imagine why a team would put those kinds of shadows in the outfield on purpose

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

In a small Oklahoma oil town, Blaze Berlowitz was a hero to the coach's daughters and the elementary school kids who high-fived him every Friday. Here's how the people of Cushing, Oklahoma know Vanderbilt's quarterback: www.tennessean.com/story/sports...

tennessean.com

How Vanderbilt football's Blaze Berlowitz became the pride of an Oklahoma town | Exclusive

Before Blaze Berlowitz was Vanderbilt football's season-opening quarterback, he was the pride of Cushing, Oklahoma.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This is my “get off my lawn” take but nobody should be doing the Heisman pose in week 1, especially not when beating a bad opponent by 30. That should be reserved for huge moments in high stakes games!

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s interesting to have a whole story about the drawbacks of the airpull approach, mention the Brewers and Rays, and not mention the best offense in baseball, led by the NL MVP, that got there by going all in on airpull (while still letting hit-first players do their things)

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Per ccblstats.com, Vanderbilt's Ryker Waite and Tommy Goodin were the top two ranked batters in the Cape Cod League this summer in xWOBA

ccblstats.com

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This is also true of defense positional adjustments. If your first baseman gets hurt in game 6 of the world series, how many options do you have to replace him in game 7? What about if your shortstop gets hurt? Your catcher? It makes a lot more intuitive sense when you've had to manage the roster

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

My dad is an Angels fan, we don’t live in the same state, I have never called him during work and would never do that unless it’s an emergency. I decided Arte selling the team was an emergency 😂

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Just really tighten the rules in when position players can be used. Gotta be at least 10 runs (or extras), maybe more. Or what about this: you can only pitch a position player if you’re *winning.* Give the team winning a blowout an advantage in the rest of the series. The losing team has to wear it

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Jeremiah Boyd, who played at Presbyterian and Middle Tennessee and recently retired from the Diamondbacks org, announced he has joined the #VandyBoys as the catchers coach. Vanderbilt finished 15th of 16 SEC teams in catcher defense in 2026 www.tennessean.com/story/sports...

tennessean.com

Vanderbilt baseball adds catchers coach Jeremiah Boyd to Tim Corbin's staff

Vanderbilt baseball has added a catchers coach to Tim Corbin's staff in Jeremiah Boyd, who previously played at Middle Tennessee.

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Which college baseball team fires their coach this season because they think they will get Tony (it’s Texas A&M)

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The Patriot League can’t punish them but the football gods can

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

but have the owners considered that I was at those winter meetings reporting a story about Vanderbilt and the lack of action allowed me to ask Vanderbilt-related questions in pressers without getting any funny looks

(from fangraphs): "Point no. 2: I understand why Manfred is licking his chops at the idea of a free agent bonanza every offseason. This all dates back to 2023, when everyone went to the Winter Meetings in Nashville and twiddled their thumbs waiting for Shohei Ohtani to sign. Manfred, his people, and a lot of the national newsbreakers had a freakout because the market was waiting for Ohtani, and Ohtani’s agent wasn’t leaking anything publishable."

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Aria Gerson @aria-gerson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Andrew Fischer is going to change the Brewers’ fortunes by immediately converting everyone involved with that franchise to the power of the desire to hit home runs, I’m convinced

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