Author Dan Helpingstine has written several books about baseball in Chicago, including, "South Side Hitmen: The Story of the 1977 Chicago White Sox," and "The Cubs and the White Sox: A Baseball Rivalry, 1900 to the Present." Helpingstine is a life-long White Sox fan - his 2023 essay about Bill Veeck's second tenure as the White Sox owner is the subject for this show. Check out our bookshop.org affiliate link below for links to Helpingstine's books In Part 2, Rex and Craig consider the Astros' plight, examine a challenge facing the WNBA stemming from a Caitlin Clark interview gone horribly wr ..read more

On this Rex and Craig agree -- Foreigner is a boring band.  And it is an outrage that Foreigner is nominated for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while Iron Maiden and Soundgarden are not.  Then again, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has been a joke for a long time. Why stop now? Rex and Craig review this year's nominees and cast our (imaginary) ballots. Oh, and that Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce video is here. Also this episode, Caitlin Clark and the WNBA, Coachella woes, injured pitchers everywhere and the Astros woes. Errata: There is, in fact, a Hip Hop Hall of Fame ..read more

Kristin Cavness is the general manager of the Alpine Cowboys, the only truly independent team in the independent Pecos League (the other 15 teams are owned and operated by league). The Cowboys are owned and operated by a locally-controlled non-profit that keeps Alpine's strong baseball history alive. The team plays their home games at historic Kokernot Field, dubbed by Sports Illustrated's Nicholas Dawidoff in 2016 as the "Yankee Stadium of Texas." Cavness gives us a fun behind the scenes look at independent baseball in West Texas. In Part 2, Rex and Craig discuss the Astros' dreadful start ..read more

Bayleigh Von Schneider co-hosts Soxy Chicks, a podcast about Red Sox and White Sox baseball. She returns this week to Hooks & Runs for our annual American League preview. Von Schneider also shared some thoughts on Jordan Montgomery's landing spot (we didn't know yet it would be Arizona), Shohei Ohtani's gambling woes and the perils trying to compete in the hyper-competitive American League East plus more. Join us for this fast moving conversation. Bayleigh Von Schneider on Twitter Bayleigh Von Schneider on Soxy Chicks at YouTube -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN --> ..read more

Sara Sanchez, who writes and podcasts at Bleed Cubbie Blue, BaseballHQ and the Fantasy Feud podcast, returns to be Hooks & Runs' first three-time guest for our 2024 National League outlook. Sara is a talented, engaging baseball journalist and analyst who deserves your attention. She always delivers the goods. A lot happened between the recording on March 18 and the release on March 25 including Blake Snell signing with the Giants that evening and a few days later, a shocking and somewhat confusing gambling scandal -- can we call it a scandal yet -- involving mega-involving Dodger supersta ..read more

Dr. Ben Wynne, Ph.D. (Univ. of N. Georgia) is our guest this week to talk about his latest book, "A Hound Dog Tale: Big Mama, Elvis and the Song that Changed Everything"  (Louisiana State Univ. Press 2024). This is a fascinating interview about a song that was a major rhythm & blues hit for Big Mama Thornton and a ground-breaking success for Elvis Presley a few years later. Through his research, Wynne is able to explain how this song through is many incarnations and having spurred two major lawsuits defined and re-defined the culture and business of popular music in the years that fol ..read more

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 ne ..read more

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 ..read more

Harris Cooper, Ph.D. is the  Hugo L. Blomquist Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University and for our more immediate purposes author of "Finding America in a Minor League Ballpark: A Season Hosting for the Durham Bulls" (Skyhorse, 2024). He is our guest this week to talk about his book and the joys of baseball. Errata: Ron Shelton wrote and directed "Bull Durham." Episodes Mentioned 148 - Baseball Is the Story of America w/ Derick McDuff -->Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tT8d3pVUsN -->You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing boo ..read more

This week Craig and Rex conclude the three-part series ranking the first generation concrete and steel ballparks build prior to the Great Depression. This episode includes the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium in New York City, Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field in Chicago and Fenway Park in Boston. Episodes Mentioned 127 - The Old Ballparks Project, Part I 184 - Class Warfare in Detroit!: The Old Ballparks Project, Part 2 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 Baseb ..read more