Hooks & Runs A podcast about baseball, music and culture.

Craig reports on his short getaway to Cleveland, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field. The hosts speculate on stadium drama in Oakland, Tampa and Anaheim. The Mariners blew a 10-game lead in the American League West over a 24-game period, but will anyone remember in October if Seattle hangs on to win the division anyway? Craig and Rex glance at famous late-season collapses in baseball history. We want All-Stars in their team uniforms and the national anthem performance...

Rex attended his first in-person Major League game this week - his Rangers beat Craig's Astros and Rex did an okay job suppressing the urge to be a sore winner. Also this week, a look at standings going into the All-Star Break, Wander Franco may be in big trouble, Randy Hennis had a short, brilliant career for Houston and Rex has a few things to say about Globe Life's robot bartenders.For the record, in Texas' 4-2 win over Houston Sunday, Josh Sborz got out of the bases loaded, none out jam i...

Hurricane Beryl dealt a blow to our hometown but 36 hours after it passed Hooks & Runs is on schedule against all odds. This week, Craig and Rex riffing on the upcoming Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton, Jim Leyland and Joe Mauer (with an obligatory dig along the way on Journey and Bon Jovi from Craig), speculating about Ichiro's chances for unanimous induction, Billy Wagner's chance for induction at all in 2025, updating plans for the podcast's College Football ...

In part one, Craig and Rex recall some memorable Fourth of July baseball fireworks featuring the ubiquitous Guy Hecker, the irrepressible Boom Boom Beck and the simply legendary Rick Camp. In part two, they discuss the three Expansion Era (1961-2024) pitchers who made an All-Star team then went on to lose 20 games in the season. Also, Bobby Bonilla Day and what may have brought an end to teenagers playing in the Major Leagues.The three pitchers, by the way, are Turk Farrell, 1962 Colt-....

Timothy Zarley has written a wonderful new book, "1901: The War of the Baseball Magnates." (Yelraz Publishing 2024) about the chaotic birth of what we now call baseball's modern era. We talked about some of the franchise movements, contract battles (and lawsuits) with players and the backroom dealings that brought competition to the National League, opened new markets for American's pasttime, and triggered a series of events that led to the first AL/NL World Series in 1903.The episode opens w...

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author William "Bill" Ecenbarger is our guess this week to discuss his latest book, "Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball's Stars Avoid World War I" (Temple University Press 2024). The book chronicles how Bethlehem Steel's "safe shelter" industrial league in 1917 and 1918 helped Major League players like "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Dutch Leonard and a young Babe Ruth avoid the draft and military service during World War I. In part tw...