Hooks & Runs
Hooks & Runs is a podcast about baseball, music and culture. Our podcast includes interviews with news makers in the sports and music world plus commentary from the co-hosts on interesting current and historical events. Hooks & Runs releases a new episodes every Thursday (more or less).
Hooks & Runs
266 - Benny Kauff: "An Apparent Injustice Has Been Done"
Ohio native Benny Kauff made his Major League debut in 1912. He jumped to the Federal League in 1914 where he emerged to stand among that circuit's best hitters. After the Federal League folded, Kauff signed with John McGraw's New York Giants and claimed the team's center field position.
Kauff held that spot until a New York grand jury indicted him for grand larceny (car theft) after the 1919 season. Kauff, also burdened with gambling accusations, played just 55 games for New York in 1920 then was traded in early July to a minor league team. In May, 1921, a New York jury acquitted Kauff of the grand larceny charge, but the baseball never lifted Kauff's suspension during his life.
Kauff's is a wild tale about baseball, Tammany Hall justice, city life during the dead ball era, and a ballplayer that just maybe got a raw deal.
Sources: ( ) Gary Joseph Cieradkowski, "Benny Kauff: Stealing Bases and Automobiles," Cieradkowski at https://studiogaryc.com/2018/08/03/benny-kauff-stealing-bases-and-automobiles/ (last accessed October 11, 2025); (2) David Jones, "Benny Kauff," Society for American Baseball Research at https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/benny-kauff/ (last accessed October 11, 2025); (3) Dozens of newspapers articles accessed via newspapers.com and (4) Statistics were available via Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/.
Errata: Benny Kauff suffered from diphtheria in March 2021, not Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
Please consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns
Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: hooksandruns@protonmail.com
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2025.