Hooks & Runs

Professor Willie Steele (Lipscomb) joins us this week to discuss the forthcoming 9-Online Virtual Baseball Conference. Steele is a conference co-director and past editor of NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture. Steele is also an expert on the works of W. P. Kinsella ("Shoeless Joe") so naturally, the conversation veered that direction.

Also this episode, some thoughts on AI music and the return of vinyl.

Willie Steele at...

Professor John Ferling (University of West Georgia) joins the podcast this week to talk about his new book, Baseball As It Was: Building Champions Before Free Agency Changed Everything (Tatra Press, May 2026). The book examines the period 1946-1957, the years after World War II, with particular focus on the Cleveland Indians and the Boston, and later the Milwaukee Braves.

John Ferling, Ph.D. - http://johnferling.co...

This week on Hooks & Runs, the theatrical doom metal quartet Castle Rat gets a major article in Spin, Craig wanders into more Astro sign stealing controversy on social media, the truth about (Babe) Ruth (in 1922), Portland vs Salt Lake City as an expansion candidate, and remembering René-Robert La Salle's vacation to our home county.

Source: Steve Appleford, "Castle Rat Brings to Life a Mythic World of Ancient Heroes and Villain...

Randall Sullivan, former contributing editor to Rolling Stone and author of The Price of Experience, and Untouchable, joins Hooks & Runs this week to discuss his latest book, The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads (Grove Atlantic, June 2026). The First All-Star Game chronicles a defining moment for both baseball and the nation, weaving together the sport's early lively ball history with the Jazz A...

Between players jumping contracts and entangling themselves in gambling scandals; the lack of a clear, consistent enforcement authority and conference (league) realignments, one could easily confuse current state of the NCAA with the chaotic state of 19th Century baseball.

This week, John A. Fortunato joins us to make sense of college sports today. Fortunato is a professor of communications and media management at Fordham University...

Chapter 1 - Paul Hofmann, Ph.D., Associate Provost for International Affairs at the University of Louisville and Society for American Baseball Research member, joins us this week to discuss Charlie Ferguson, a forgotten 19th Century baseball star. Ferguson played four seasons in his early 20s with the Philadelphia Quakers (now, Phillies) in the National League and by 1887, Ferguson's final season, he emerged as a rising two-way sta...

Author Perry T. Cooper is our guest this week. Cooper's new book, "The 1890 Louisville Cyclones: Major League Baseball's Original Worst-to-First Team" (McFarland, March 2026). Louisville finished the 1889 American Association season with 27 wins, 111 losses, the first Major League team to lose 100 games during a campaign. Under new manager Jack Chapman, Louisville rebounded in 1890 to first place in the AA and an 88-44 record. ...

This week it's Rex and Craig musing over baseball and music news of the day including:

• Wander Franco's legal troubles are not over;
• Shohei Ohtani's amazing year;
• Fernando Tatis, Jr.'s power outage;
• NL Central excellence;
• the Tampa Bay Rays are at it again;
• the trouble with Minor League Baseball
• The age of Avatar Ozzy; and
• Favorite first quarter 2026 albums.

Sources: Sha Be Allah, "SOURCE SPORTS: Immigration Experts Believe Wander F...

David Faflik, a Professor in the Department of English at the University of Rhode Island has a new book titled "Segregation Games: Boston, Busing, and the Making of Red Sox Nation" (Univ. of Massachusetts Press 2026). 

The book examines the "surprising ties in 1970s Boston between the racial segregation of the city’s schools and the racial controversies expressed on and off the field of 'Red Sox Nation.'" 

David Fafli...

Our guest for Chapter 1 is John McMurray, chair of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)'s Deadball Era Research Committee. His essay, "September 1, 1906: A Pivotal Game Early in the Deadball Era," appeared in the Committee's newsletter, "The Inside Game," earlier this year. 

The game between the Philadelphia A's and the home team Boston Americans (now Red Sox) lasted 24 innings with the A's winning 4-1. The game fe...

Author and historian Kevin J. Abing is our guest this week to talk about the 1926 St. Louis Cardinals, on the 100th Anniversary of the team's first World Series championships. 

Abing is author of "Baseball Magic and Mayhem in St. Louis: The 1926 Cardinals, World Series Champions" (McFarland Press, 2026). Abing's meticulously researched book tells the story of the Cardinal's rise from National League doormat to dominance and the...

Hooks & Runs returns to weekly episodes with this continuation of our series "Texans in the Hall." This entry examines the career of Tris Speaker, who played 22 years in the Majors hitting .345 with over 3,500 hits and a record 792 career doubles. He also re-wrote the book on how to play center field. Speaker was born and is buried in Hubbard, Texas in Hill County.

In part 2, another baseball card draw that includes a should be ...

Mike Czerniewski, host of This Podcast Is ... Uncalled For, joins us this week to talk about Kansas City baseball history - the Monarchs, the A's and the Royals, along with Kansas City BBQ and new digs for the Royals.

Check out our episodes 280, "Texans in the Hall: Joe Williams, Andy Cooper and Hilton Smith w/ Thomas Kern," and 262, "Rube and Bill Foster: Texans in the Hall," for stories about players that played for and against th...

Seth S. Tannenbaum, Ph.D. is assistant professor of sports studies at Manhattanville University and author of Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites: Democracy and Division at the Twentieth-Century Ballpark (University of Illinois Press 2026). 

The book speaks to the fan experience at Major League Baseball games in the twentieth century and examines changing understandings of urban space, inclusion, and democracy in the U.S.

Seth...

Our guest this episode is Thomas W. Gilbert. His new book, "Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America's First Baseball Hero" (David R. Godine, 2026), is the story of James Creighton, a young pitcher who pitched for amateur clubs in Brooklyn and is credited for inventing modern pitching. 

Gilbert's book is not only about Creighton's exploits on the field, but about the life and times of baseball in its earliest years - be...

On July 10, 1932, after playing 3 double headers in 3 days, Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's faced the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland's League Park. Craziness ensued. The game and players set records that have never been, and are unlikely to be, broken or even approached. 

This is the story of that game.

We discuss our sources after the outro music.

Errata: The opening game at Cleveland Stadium was July 31, 1932, not July 21st. Con...

Pennsylvania native Thomas Kern has been a Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) member for over 40 years and has several biographical essays about Negro League stars during that time. Thomas joins us this episode to resume our series, "Texans in the Hall" to talk about three great Texas-born pitchers - Joe Williams, Andy Cooper and Hilton Smith. Kern introduces us to all three Texans, from their beginnings in rural Texas t...

Dr. Stephen V. Rice joins us in the first chapter to talk about his recent article in the Baseball Research Journal, "The 1915 Army Baseball Team at West Point: Five Future Generals and an 18–3 Record." In the second chapter, a look at two-time American League batting champion Ferris Fain and his tragic post-career fall. We close the episode with a short concert review. Links:

• The Society for American Baseball Research - w...

Craig and Rex marvel over things that have happened only once in MLB history, plus comments about the recent Grammy Awards and a baseball card pull.

Errata - Pat Kelly never managed in the Major Leagues. There was only one José Vizcaíno in the Majors.

Notes -Khaby Lame sold his likeness for $975 Million https://tappedinculture.substack.com/p/khaby-lame-sold-his-likeness-for

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