Talking Kansas City: Baseball, BBQ and Ballparks w/ Mike Czerniewski

Talking Kansas City: Baseball, BBQ and Ballparks w/ Mike Czerniewski

Author: A podcast about baseball, music and culture. April 29, 2026 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. Check out our episodes 280, "Texans in the Hall: Joe Williams, Andy Cooper and Hilton Smith w/ Thomas Kern," and 262, "Rube and Bill Foster: Texans in the Hall," for stories about players that played for and against the Kansas City Monarchs. This Podcast Is... Uncalled For on Ap...

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
259 - Texans in the Hall: Eddie Mathews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:43
Eddie Mathews played 17 seasons in the big leagues and is the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. He hit 512 home runs in his career and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978. This week…
258 - "I Was a Kid Too Back Then" w/ Rick Wise [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:57
Rick Wise pitched 18 seasons in the big league, beginning with is rookie year for the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies. He won 188 games in that span and achieved some notable milestones, including becoming the only pitcher in…
257 - MLB's Microbet Investigation Snares an All-Star. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:51
Colorado of all teams highlights the week with a wild come-from-behind win at home against Pittsburgh. Hooks & Runs' favorite teams made big splashes at the trade deadline. MLB's microbets investigation snares Cleveland…
256 - Southwest Conference Baseball w/ Bo Carter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:58
Bo Carter is the Executive Director for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and an inductee into the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame. He was media relations director for the Southwest Conferenc…
255 - Major League Baseball Needs to Think Globally [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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…
254 - Frank Robinson is Underrated (Texans in the Hall) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:37
Frank Robinson was born in Beaumont, Texas, raised in Oakland, California, and established himself among baseball's most feared hitter and fierest competitors for over a decade. Robinson had over 2,900 hits, hit 586 home…
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…