269 - Ralph Branca: Baseball's Everyman w/ Bob Mitchell

269 - Ralph Branca: Baseball's Everyman w/ Bob Mitchell

Author: A podcast about baseball, music and culture. November 6, 2025 Duration: 48:53
Bob Mitchell is a retired professor, award winning advertising creative and tennis teaching pro. He has published 13 books and countless essays and articles, including his most recent book, "Ralph Branca and the Meaning of Life" (McFarland Press 2025). Join us this episode as we take our time machine back to Coogan's Bluff, October 3, 1951, and the pitch that changed everything. (Branca was the Dodger pitcher that thew Giant outfielder Bobby Thomson the fateful pitch that Thomson hit into the...

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
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
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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…
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…