228 - Close But No Cigar III: Sam Rice, 2,987 career hits.

228 - Close But No Cigar III: Sam Rice, 2,987 career hits.

Author: A podcast about baseball, music and culture. November 28, 2024 Duration: 26:47
Outfielder Sam Rice played 20 seasons in the Major Leagues - all but one with the Washington Nationals (later, the Senators). Rice retired from the game with 2,987 hits, 13 shy of the coveted mark of 3,000, making him the player that came the closest to reaching that milestone. In this episode, we look at Rice's sometimes tragic, often triumphant life. Selected Sources: Stephen Able, "Sam Rice," Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org). Stanley Milliken, "White Sox Win 6-2," Washing...

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
245 - Disco Was Fun! Baseball, Music & Culture in 1978 w/ David Krell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:18
David Krell is author of "1978: Baseball and America in the Disco Era," (University of Nebraska Press, 2025). His book explores the wild 1978 major league season with features on the American League East race that went t…
244 - Power Outage! The 1979 Houston Astros [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:25
This week, Craig and Rex take a deep dive into the 1979 Houston Astros, the only team since 1947 to hit fewer than 50 home runs while posting a winning record and also the last team to hit more triples than home runs in…
239 - Willie McCovey: Remembering a Forgotten Superstar w/ Chris Haft [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:36
Author Chris Haft's new book, Willie McCovey: A Giant Among Giants (University of Nebraska Press, 2025) adds to the baseball literature by examining the life and baseball times of perhaps the most forgotten member of the…