189 - Baseball, Chemical Warfare and The Great War w/ Jim Leeke

189 - Baseball, Chemical Warfare and The Great War w/ Jim Leeke

Author: A podcast about baseball, music and culture. March 1, 2024 Duration: 53:28
This week's guest is Jim Leeke, author of the new book, "The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I" (Potomac Books, 2024). This is the Leeke's fifth book about baseball and the Great War authored by Leeke, a retired journalist, copywriter and U.S. Navy Veteran. We thoroughly enjoyed this chat. This interview discusses players such as Hall of Famers Eppa Rixey, Christy Matthewson and Ty Cobb that served in the Army's Chemical Warfare Service during th...

You might find yourself wondering how a perfect double play and a classic guitar riff are connected, or what a stadium anthem says about the year it topped the charts. That’s the kind of territory explored on Hooks & Runs. This isn't just a series of interviews, though you’ll hear conversations with fascinating figures from the sports and music industries. It’s also a place for thoughtful commentary, where the co-hosts draw lines between the crack of a bat and a cultural moment, between a legendary concert and a legendary season. They dig into both current headlines and forgotten history, finding the stories where pop culture and the national pastime intersect. Each episode feels like a relaxed, insightful conversation that could start with a baseball statistic and end with a music theory debate. New installments of this podcast arrive roughly every Thursday, offering a consistent dose of their unique blend. If you’ve ever felt that the narratives of baseball and the rhythms of music speak a similar language, this podcast provides the commentary to translate.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Hooks & Runs
Podcast Episodes
253 - Microbets, 1980's Baseball Cards, and Fare Thee Well to Ozzy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:31
This week on the show, baseball's microbets scandal, another Topps pack - this time from 1986 - and Ozzy's "farewell" concert. See the two Luis Ortiz pitches in question here: Cody Williams, "These are the two pitches th…
252 - Jaws at 50 w/ Cassandra Hager [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:05
Film critic Cassandra Hager (Cinefied) joins us this week to reflect on "Jaws," released 50 years ago last month. Cassandra Hager on Cinefied - https://www.cinefied.com/cassandrahager Cassandra Hager on Twitter - https:/…
251 - Talking Talking Heads w/ Jonathan Gould [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:28
Jonathan Gould's latest book is "Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock" (Meridian Books 2025). Gould has previously written books about The Beatles and Otis Redding -- his sho…
250 - The Clout or an Out Club [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:08
Three players in big league history have more than one career home run but no other hits. Two were players that got only a cup of coffee or two in the big leagues; the third, believe it or not, was a pitcher. We have the…
249 - He Went Two for Five the Next Game w/ Beverly Winter-Donaho [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:02
In April 1950, Jim Martin, a catcher for the West Texas New Mexico League’s Pampa Oilers, was violently struck by lightning during a game in Abilene, Texas. He not only survived the strike but he played the next game, go…
246 - Remembering the St. Louis Browns w/ Ed Wheatley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:40
Ed Wheatley, president of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society, joins us this week to discuss the Browns, an American League team from 1902 to 1953. Wheatley is the co-author of "St. Louis Browns: The Story of a Belov…