Hooks & Runs
This 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.
Episodes
165 episodes since 2020
217 - We are Getting Worried About Justin Verlander
Justin Verlander is struggling in his latest return from the injury list. Roger Maris would have celebrated his 90th birthday in the 10th -- he died in 1985. We noticed a lot of pretty famous people were born or grew up Maris's home town of Hib...
September 12, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 217
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30:15
216 - Celebrating the Baseball Road Trip w/ Timothy Malcolm
Timothy Malcolm wrote the newly revised and updated, "Moon Baseball Road Trips: The Complete Guide to All the Ballparks, with Beer, Bites, and Sights Nearby" (Moon Travel, 2024) being released September 10. He joins us this week to talk about b...
September 05, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 216
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54:48
215 - Close But No Cigar I: Bobby Mathews, 297 Career Wins
Bobby Mathews pitched in three major leagues from 1871 to 1887 and ended his career with 297 career wins. Why did he stop playing when he was so close to 300? This episode looks into Mathews' career as well as wins as a statistical category and...
August 29, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 215
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26:01
214 - The 1961 Phillies: A Cavalcade of Losses
On August 6, 2024, the dreadful Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland A's 5-1 at the Coliseum. This win snapped a 21-game losing streak, the longest losing streak in the Majors in 36 years. The Philadelphia Phillies own the modern record losing st...
August 24, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 214
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42:16
213 - Talking 1890 Players League Blues w/ Robert Ross
Professor Robert Ross, author of The Great Baseball Revolt: The Rise and Fall of the 1890 Players League (2016) joins us this week to discuss the first attempt at unionization by Major League players -- the Brotherhood of Professional ...
August 15, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 213
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56:37
212 - Ken Johnson Has a Secret
This week Craig and Rex take a deep dive into Houston's Jose Abreu and Rafael Montero contract fiascos and come away glad we're not the Angels. In Part 2, Ken Johnson did something on an April week night in 1964 that had never been done before ...
August 08, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 212
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41:53
211 - The Money Went Dry, The Liquor Went Wet: The Life & Times of Bob Caruthers w/ Dave Heller
Journalist, author Dave Heller joins us this week to discuss his new book, "Parisian Bob Caruthers: Baseball's First Two-Way Star" (McFarland 2024). Caruthers played in the American Association and National League from 1884 to 1893 where he led...
July 31, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 211
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43:02
210 - Craig Goes to Cleveland.
Craig reports on his short getaway to Cleveland, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field. The hosts speculate on stadium drama in Oakland, Tampa and Anaheim. The Mariners blew a 10-game lead in the American League West over a 24-...
July 25, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 210
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44:14
209 - Rex Goes to Minute Maid
Rex attended his first in-person Major League game this week - his Rangers beat Craig's Astros and Rex did an okay job suppressing the urge to be a sore winner. Also this week, a look at standings going into the All-Star Break, Wander Franco ma...
July 15, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 209
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35:18
208 - We Are Not Miracle Workers: The Post-Beryl Episode
Hurricane Beryl dealt a blow to our hometown but 36 hours after it passed Hooks & Runs is on schedule against all odds. This week, Craig and Rex riffing on the upcoming Baseball Hall of Fame inductees,
July 11, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 208
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35:32
207 - Fourth of July Fireworks and 20-Game Losing All-Stars
In part one, Craig and Rex recall some memorable Fourth of July baseball fireworks featuring the ubiquitous Guy Hecker, the irrepressible
July 04, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 207
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38:30
206 - 1901 and the Chaotic Birth of Modern Baseball w/ Timothy J. Zarley
Timothy Zarley has written a wonderful new book, "1901: The War of the Baseball Magnates." (Yelraz Publishing 2024) about the chaotic birth of what we now call baseball's modern era. We talked about some of the franchise movements, contract bat...
June 27, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 206
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40:14
205 - Baseball at War: Working and Playing Ball in the Bethlehem Steel League w/ William Ecenbarger
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author William "Bill" Ecenbarger is our guess this week to discuss his latest book, "Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball's Stars Avoid World War I" (Temple University Press 2024)....
June 20, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 205
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44:48
204 - Sid Needed Floppy Shoes: The Road to Almost w/ Darryl Rhoades
Darryl Rhoades has been entertaining audiences with his music and comedy for over half-a-century. As founder and leader of Hahavishnu Orchestra and later as a solo artist, Rhoades recorded several albums and toured across the United States. Rho...
June 14, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 204
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48:48
203 - Magical Matagorda Bay w/ Kimberly Ridley
Kimberly Ridley has written "Matagorda Magic: The Hidden Life of a Texas Bay" (Texas A&M University Press 2024) about our very own Matagorda Bay estuary right here in our home county on the Texas Gulf Coast. Kimberly joins the podcast this ...
June 09, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 203
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59:14
202 - They've Got a Show About Everything!
This week Rex and Craig take on Ángel Hernández's retirement, interference & the infield fly rule, Jose Abreu's return, Austin Maddux's arrest and arraignment, Ranger Suarez's hot start, The Chicago White Sox' not-so-hot start, the half-mar...
May 30, 2024
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41:45
201 - One Year Wonders - Closers Edition
This week, Craig and Rex talk about closers who had one great year then -- nothing after that, along with anticipating Francis Ford Coppola's new film.-->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks ...
May 24, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 201
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38:04
200 - Baseball and National Tragedy: The RFK Assassination w/ Fred Frommer
Fred Frommer is an author, journalist, editor and sports and politics historian. He is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, where his stories often top the paper's "most read" sports and history sections. This week, for our 200th episo...
May 18, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 200
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1:01:23
199 - The Good, the Not Really That Bad and the Ultimately Ugly
This week Craig and Rex review three newish releases -- Beyonce's brilliant "Carter Country," Pearl Jam's not so bad "Dark Matter" and Motley Crue's ugly new single "Dogs of War." Also this episode, some trivia answers, how AI impacts music fro...
May 09, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 199
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45:13
198 - Johnny Mize: Born to Hit w/ Jerry Grillo
Jerry Grillo, author of "Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize," (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2024) joins us this week for a wide-ranging, fast-paced interview about this legendary Cardinal, Giant and Yankee first baseman. Grillo...
May 01, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 198
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1:08:04
197 - Bill Veeck, The Second Act w/ Dan Helpingstine
Author Dan Helpingstine has written several books about baseball in Chicago, including, "South Side Hitmen: The Story of the 1977 Chicago White Sox," and "The Cubs and the White Sox: A Baseball Rivalry, 1900 to the Present." Helpingstine is a l...
April 28, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 197
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53:56
196 - If You're Going to Let Foreigner in You Might as Well Let Them All In
On this Rex and Craig agree -- Foreigner is a boring band. And it is an outrage that Foreigner is nominated for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while Iron Maiden...
April 20, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 196
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51:39
195 - Looking Back at Houston's 1963 All-Rookie Lineup
The Houston Colt-.45's started an all-rookie lineup on September 27, 1963, the one and only time in Major League Baseball history a team has done this. Houston eventually played a remarkable 16 rookies in the game, another MLB record unlikely t...
April 14, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 195
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37:46
194 - West Texas Baseball: The Alpine Cowboys and the Pecos League w/ Kristin Cavness
Kristin Cavness is the general manager of the Alpine Cowboys, the only truly independent team in the independent Pecos League (the other 15 teams are owned and operated by league). The Cowboys are owned and...
April 05, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 194
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43:42
193 - The Hooks & Runs American League Preview w/ Bayleigh Von Schneider
Bayleigh Von Schneider co-hosts Soxy Chicks, a podcast about Red Sox and White Sox baseball. She returns this week to Hooks & Runs for our annual American League preview. Von Schneider also shared some thoughts on Jordan Montgomery's landin...
March 29, 2024
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Season 5
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Episode 193
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53:02