Hooks & Runs

A podcast about baseball, music and culture.

This is a podcast about baseball, music and culture. Our podcast includes interviews with news makers in the sports and music world plus commentary from the co-hosts on interesting current and historical events. Hooks & Runs releases a new episodes every Thursday. read less
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Episodes

190 - The Jason Lane Phenomenon: Every Pitcher Tells a Story
Mar 11 2024
190 - The Jason Lane Phenomenon: Every Pitcher Tells a Story
Former Houston Astro Jason Lane is one of 21 pitchers in MLB history that have pitched or pitched at least 10 innings in the big leagues with a career ERA below 1.00. The list includes both Negro League players and players that played in the National Association (1871-75).We are looking at the background and history for all 21 players in this episode -- stories that include unfortunate injuries, bad luck, military service, returns home and other fates.Oh, believe it or not, one of the 21 players is a Baseball Hall of Fame inductee!In Part 2, Rex leads a review and discussion about the new motion picture, "Dune, Part Two."Errata: The correct name of the Negro League baseball database is Seamheads.com. Episodes Mentioned:189 - Baseball, Chemical Warfare and The Great War w/ Jim Leeke180 - When Your Cosplay Turns Into the Truth 142 - The 1919 Black Sox w/ Jacob Pomrenke 107 - Bert Shepard, Lou Brissie & Baseball During World War II 106 - Baseball Rebels w/ Professor Peter Dreier -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
189 - Baseball, Chemical Warfare and The Great War w/ Jim Leeke
Mar 1 2024
189 - Baseball, Chemical Warfare and The Great War w/ Jim Leeke
This week's guest is Jim Leeke, author of the new book, "The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I" (Potomac Books, 2024). This is the Leeke's fifth book about baseball and the Great War authored by Leeke, a retired journalist, copywriter and U.S. Navy Veteran. We thoroughly enjoyed this chat.This interview discusses players such as Hall of Famers Eppa Rixey, Christy Matthewson and Ty Cobb that served in the Army's Chemical Warfare Service during the "The Great War."Leeke's other books on Baseball and The Great War are:"Ballplayers in the Great War: Newspaper Accounts of Major Leaguers in World War I Military Service" (2013) (co-edited);"Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918 (2015); "From, the Dugout to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War (2017); and"The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War" (2021) -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
82 - Rube Waddell Would Make A Hell of a Movie w/ Prof. Alan H. Levy (Jan. 2022)
Feb 22 2024
82 - Rube Waddell Would Make A Hell of a Movie w/ Prof. Alan H. Levy (Jan. 2022)
Life got in the way this week so we reached back into the archives for this interesting interview with Prof. Levy in January 2022. Here are the show notes from that episode:This week we discuss Hall of Fame southpaw, Rube Waddell with his biographer, Professor Alan Levy. Levy, a professor of history at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, published, "Rube Waddell: The Zany, Brilliant Life of a Strikeout Artist" in 2000. Waddell was not only one of baseball's most talented pitchers in the first decade of the last century -- he stands out as one of the most colorful and unpredictable personalities as well. Join us for this exciting interview about one of baseball's most interesting personalities. Errata: In 1901, they were the Chicago Orphans, not the Chicago Cubs, as we discussed in Episode 77. -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/   Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
188 - Fast Car, the Super Bowl, and Tik Tok Stories
Feb 17 2024
188 - Fast Car, the Super Bowl, and Tik Tok Stories
Rex and Craig are on the case, from Luke Combs' "Fast Car" cover and performance at the Grammy Awards Show with songwriter Tracy Chapman; to our review of this year's Super Bowl halftime show starring Usher and friends; to our inquiring why some people get so triggered by Taylor Swift to Houston Astros pitchers and catchers reporting. Also, Craig has a couple of Tik Tok stories. Errata: Not really an error, but the quote from the Whatever Podcast is, "It's very convenient that women waited until after one of the most deadly and brutal wars to secure their right to vote." The vampire's name in "Nosferatu" (1922) was Graf Orlok, played by Max Schreck. The film starring Willem Defoe was "Shadow of the Vampire," not "Kiss of the Vampire." Craig replaced "Possum Kingdom" with Delta Spirit's "How 'Bout It." It's not made clear, but Nicky Minaj settled with Tracy Chapman. The "Mark" in Devo is Mark Mothersbaugh. Some LinksChris Willman, "Nicki Minaj Agrees to Pay Tracy Chapman $450,000 in Settlement Over Unauthorized Sample," Variety.com, January 8, 2021.Nick DeRiso, "Why Don't Rock Bands Play the Super Bowl Halftime Show Anymore?" at UltimateClassicRock.com, February 7, 2024.Max Pilley, "Dua Lipa thinks people don’t want pop stars to be 'political' or 'smart'" NME.com January 21, 2024. -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
185 - Finding Our Voices on College Radio w/ Katherine Rye Jewell
Jan 25 2024
185 - Finding Our Voices on College Radio w/ Katherine Rye Jewell
Professor Katherine Rye Jewell (Fitchburg State) joins us this week to discuss her new book "Live from the Underground: A History of College Radio" (Univ. North Carolina 2023). Jewell relates in her wonderful book and this interview how college radio progressed from a sleepy "left of the dial" collegiate training ground to a major force in the popular music business, and the struggles and controversies students and administrators confronted along the way. Professor Jewell on Twitter/X, Linktree The Links:Professor Katherine Rye Jewell:https://katejewell.wordpress.com/Professor Jewell is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/katisjewellProfessor Jewell is on Linktree; https://linktr.ee/katherinejewellLive from the Underground at University of North Carolina Press:https://uncpress.org/book/9781469677255/live-from-the-underground/If you enjoyed this episode you will probably enjoy:134 - An Inside Look at College Radio w/ Ana Cubas 102 - SST Records & The Sound of the Underground w/ Jim RulandJust for fun -- The Replacements, "Left of the Dial," from their 1987 LP "Tim."-->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
184 - Class Warfare in Detroit!: The Old Ballparks Project, Part 2
Jan 22 2024
184 - Class Warfare in Detroit!: The Old Ballparks Project, Part 2
It's been a minute but Rex and Craig this week pick up the old ballparks project started in Episode 127. Andrew, Craig and Rex ranked the 14 brick, concrete and steel ballparks build between 1909 and 1923 (with the Baker Bowl, built in 1895 thrown in for good measure) based upon several factors we don't remember and didn't exactly follow. This episode includes the middle tier - the ballparks that emerged from the process ranked 6-10. Also this week Hooks & Runs remembers Merv Connors, a ballplayer who played parts of two seasons for the White Sox in the late 1930s.Episodes mentioned:172 - They Were Two People Desperate to Stay in the Game w/ Bob LeMoineErrata: Craig, it's Comiskey Park, not Comiskey Field.  Craig, it was Ralph Terry, not Bill Terry. Craig, Ralph Kiner led the National League in home runs every year from 1946 to 1952, not from 1947 to 1954. Mazeroksi's blast was the first walk-off home run in World Series history, not in history. The Yankees outscored the Pirates in the 1960 World Series 55-27, not 54-27.Sources:Philip J. Lowry, "Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks (Walker & Co. 2006).Al Kamen, "High Court Throws Out Baseball Suit," Washington Post (Oct. 12, 1988) (accessed January 13, 2024).Wikipedia for the ballparks and ball clubs mentioned and the sources cited therein.www.baseball-reference.com -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
183 - Len Koenecke's Sad and Tragic Trip Home w/ Bill Lamb
Jan 13 2024
183 - Len Koenecke's Sad and Tragic Trip Home w/ Bill Lamb
Bill Lamb is our guest this week to discuss the sad and tragic Len Koenecke. Koenecke played three seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the Great Depression. The Dodgers released Koenicke in September, 1935 while the team was in St. Louis and sent him home to New York by plane with two other players. Koenecke never made it home in a story filled with both mystery and tragedy.Bill Lamb, an award-winning researcher and writer with the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) and Koenecke's biographer on the SABR to relive Koenecke's life, baseball career and fateful journey on that September day and night in 1935. Bill Lamb's biographical essay about Len Koenecke.Errata: Len Koenecke set a fielding percentage record for National League outfielders in 1935. That record was broken by Harry Craft in 1940. The first qualifying National League center fielder to field 1.000 in a season was Curt Flood in 1966 -- the most recent was Brandon Nimmo in 2022.Episodes referenced:142 - The 1919 Black Sox w/ Jacob Pomrenke 159 - Hidden Histories: Baseball's Deadball Era Photographs w/ Jim Chapman178 - Called Up to the Major Leagues w/ Zak Ford -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
181 - "It's Kinda Emo:" The 2023 Hooks & Runs Year-End Music Review
Dec 28 2023
181 - "It's Kinda Emo:" The 2023 Hooks & Runs Year-End Music Review
We are closing the books on 2023 and that means it is time for the eagerly anticipated Hooks & Runs Best of 2023. This year we do not disappoint - here is a list of artists mentioned in the show, more or less in order: Brothers Osborne, Waxahatchie, Little Nax X, Saxon, The Weather Station, Nothing More, Michael Schenker Group, Gregor Barnett, Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, Bon Iver, Rosanne Cash, Sufjan Stevens, Guns & Roses, Hollywood Roses, Boris, Iron Savior, Primal Fear, Metal Church, Overkill, Girlschool, Tygers of Pan Tang, Judas Priest, Foghat, Uriah Heep, Blue Öyster Cult, Eaerch, The Bug, Flowdan, Drive By Truckers, Sonic Youth, Coheed & Cambria, Deafheaven, Pestilence, Third Stone, Breaking Bottles and Shane Jenkins. Artists making the cut in our respective Top Fives are for Craig, The National, Lydia Loveless, Margo Price, Slowdive and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit. For Rex, it's Jag Panzer, L.A. Guns, Dokken, Nita Strauss and KK's Priest.We opened the show with some thoughts on the Jonathan Owens interview on The Pivot -- the part about his marriage to Simone Biles.Errata: The 2024 Olympics are in Paris, France. L.A. Guns is led by Tracii Guns. Axl Rose was a member of the Hollywood Roses with Izzy Stradlin. Slash, Stephen Adler and Tracii Guns had also been members of Hollywood Roses. Rex and Craig need to work on their Guns & Roses mythologies. Judas Priest guitarist Glen Tipton suffers from Parkinson's Disease.  Blue Öyster Cult released their last album in 2020 - the album before that was released in 2001. -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
176 - Chopped and Screwed: Houston's Hip Hop Heritage w/ Langston Collin Wilkins
Nov 18 2023
176 - Chopped and Screwed: Houston's Hip Hop Heritage w/ Langston Collin Wilkins
Professor Langston Collin Wilkins (Wisconsin-Madison) joined us this week to talk about his newly released book "Welcome 2 Houston: Hip Hop Heritage in Hustle Town" (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2023), exploring "the relationship between music creation, place attachment and local heritage within Houston, Texas’ hip hop music scene." We talked about the role of neighborhoods, the "chop and screw sound that is synonymous with Houston hip hop and local legends within the scene such as Geto Boys, Bun B and DJ Screw.In part two, Craig and Rex discuss Jimbo Fisher's buyout and Craig Counsell leaving Milwaukee for Chicago. Professor Wilkins' Website (http://langstonwilkins.com/)His Instagram (@Street_Folk)His Twitter/X (@StreetFolkLCW)His Houston Hip Hop Spotify PlaylistEpisodes Mentioned:102 - SST Records & The Sound of the Underground w/ Jim Ruland -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)
173 - You Can't Make the World Series Playing Like the Mets at Home Apparently
Oct 27 2023
173 - You Can't Make the World Series Playing Like the Mets at Home Apparently
The Houston Astros 2023 season came to a close this week with Houston once again losing 4 home games in a 7 game series. Houston! We have a problem and the problem is playing in Houston! Also in this episode, the Hooks & Runs post-season awards, the Rolling Stones new album, "Hackney Diamonds," our third quarter new music picks and Craig review the Deer Tick, Country Westerns show at the Houston Heights Theater from last week.Episodes Mentioned52 - I Dig Attitude More Than the Sound of It w/ Country Westerns Third Quarter New Music SelectionsRex - Nita Strauss, "The Call of the Void" (Sumerian Records, 2023). This is the song "Surfacing."Craig - Slowdive, "everything is alive" (Dead Oceans 2023). This the album's opening cut, "shanty." Honorable mention: Lydia Loveless, "Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again" (Bloodshot Records, 2023) ("Runaway"); Sonic Youth, "Live in Brooklyn NY 2011" (Silver Current 2023) ("Sugar Kane") -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN-->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including the books featured in this episode, through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandrunsHooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.comHooks & Runs on TikTok -  https://www.tiktok.com/@hooksandrunsHooks & Runs on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thehooksandrunsAndrew Eckhoff on Tik TokLink: https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffestRex von Pohl (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/ Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (Premium Beat)