287: An Historic 24 Innings in Boston w/ John McMurray plus Blue Dot Fever Hits the Music World

287: An Historic 24 Innings in Boston w/ John McMurray plus Blue Dot Fever Hits the Music World

Author: A podcast about baseball, music and culture. May 18, 2026 Duration: 56:16
Our guest for Chapter 1 is John McMurray, chair of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)'s Deadball Era Research Committee. His essay, "September 1, 1906: A Pivotal Game Early in the Deadball Era," appeared in the Committee's newsletter, "The Inside Game," earlier this year. The game between the Philadelphia A's and the home team Boston Americans (now Red Sox) lasted 24 innings with the A's winning 4-1. The game featured many deadball era baseball features including speed, d...

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
269 - Ralph Branca: Baseball's Everyman w/ Bob Mitchell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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…
268 - Baseball & Music w/ Bill Nowlin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:47
Bill Nowlin was a co-founder of Rounder Records in the early 1960s and is a co-founder of Down the Road Records. He most recently co-edited "Native American Major Leaguers," (Society for American Baseball Research, 2025)…
267 - The 1971 Astros and the Art of What If w/ Samuel Barrett [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:13
Samuel Barrett is author of "Orange Crush: The Neglected 1971 Houston Astros" (Huntsville Independent Press 2025). Barrett examines the series of questionable player deals Houston GM Spec Richardson orchestrated during h…
266 - Benny Kauff: "An Apparent Injustice Has Been Done" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:39
Ohio native Benny Kauff made his Major League debut in 1912. He jumped to the Federal League in 1914 where he emerged to stand among that circuit's best hitters. After the Federal League folded, Kauff signed with John Mc…
265 - "They All Though I Was Crazy Anyway" w/ Scipio Spinks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:37
Scipio Spinks rose from junior college ball in Chicago to the Major Leagues with Houston and St. Louis. He pitched 5 seasons before injuries derailed his promising career. Spinks talks about his pitching in the late 60s…
264 - Texans in the Hall: Joe Morgan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:12
Joe Morgan, a native of Bonham, Texas, a small town near the Oklahoma border, is generally regarded as baseball's greatest second basemen in the post-World War II era. Originally Colt-.45 then Astro, Houston traded him t…
262 - Rube and Bill Foster: Texans in the Hall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:39
Andrew "Rube" and William "Bill" Foster were half-brothers born in Calvert, Texas, 25 years apart. Rube (b. 1879) left home in the late 90s to pitch for barnstorming teams deep into the late teens. He established his nam…
261 - The Bill Bevens Story: As Close as you Can Get [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:48
Bill Bevens came within one out of throwing the first World Series no-hitter in Game 4. Also, a look at the pennant and wild card races plus some 1988 Topps baseball cards. Errata: The Giants were 14-14 in August, 9-15 i…
260 - Bo Belinsky: Everything Has a Price w/ David Krell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:10
David Krell is a returning guest and the author of "Bo Belinsky: The Rise, Fall and Rebound of a Playboy Pitcher," (McFarland & Co., 2025) the first full-length biography of Bo Belinsky. David Krell's official website (h…