255 - Major League Baseball Needs to Think Globally

255 - Major League Baseball Needs to Think Globally

Author: A podcast about baseball, music and culture. July 26, 2025 Duration: 46:27
Topics this week: Tampa Bay Rays sale; A Shoeless Joe's Hall of Fame promotion; The All-Star Game; The USA vs. The World; Late Night TV is in trouble; BananaBall may entertain some, but it isn't baseball; Manfred wants a salary cap; MLB's tickets are overpriced for a reason; an Ozzy Osbourne post-mortum; making money while making music. Errata: A Houston business consortium was bidding to buy the St. Louis Cardinals in the early 1950's, not the St. Louis Browns. The National League, not...

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
288 - Baseball and Busing in 1970s Boston w/ David Faflik [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:57
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). Th…
286 - The Magical 1926 St. Louis Cardinals w/ Kevin J. Abing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:48
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 Mayhe…
285 - Texans in the Hall: Tris Speaker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:36
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…
Talking Kansas City: Baseball, BBQ and Ballparks w/ Mike Czerniewski [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:10
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. Ch…
282 - On Baseball's First Superstar w/ Thomas W. Gilbert [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:33
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 fo…
281 - "A Most Dramatic Diamond Struggle" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:17
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,…