Hooks & Runs

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 of Life" (McFarland Press 2025). Join us this episode as we take our time machine back to Coogan's Bluff, October 3, 1951, and the pitch that changed everything. (Br...

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), with  Rob Daugherty. Also this episode, MTV is closing it's music stations, Craig went to see Turnstile and our favorite records from the third quarter, 2025. Bill...

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 his tenure and attempts to undue the damage to show that with merely competent management, Houston's 1971 team may well have been something special indeed.  In this e...

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 McGraw's New York Giants and claimed the team's center field position.  Kauff held that spot until a New York grand jury indicted him for grand larceny (car theft) af...

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 and early 70s, the wind at Candlestick, the heat at Busch and hitting his one and only home run as a big leaguer.  Today, Spinks resides in Houston where he is head coach for the U...

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 to Cincinnati after the 1971 season is perhaps Houston's most ill-fated (and bone-headed) trades. Morgan went on to win two Most Valuable Player Awards with the Big Red Ma...

The fallout from the 1919 World Series gambling scandal rocked the baseball world when the affair broke into the public's view late in the 1920 season. Just when baseball emerged from that threat, two of baseball's biggest stars, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, found themselves immersed in betting scandal arising from a seemingly meaningless game late in the 1919 season. The scandal led to acr...

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 name as a top pitcher in the circuit as well as a savvy businessman. In 1920, he organized the Negro National League, the first and leading organized Black basebal...

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 in July. In the second half so far, Texas is 24-19, Seattle is 22-21 and Houston is 20-23. San Diego went 23-43 after the All-Star Break in 2021 and for some reason Craig thinks th...

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 (https://www.davidkrell.com) David Krell's Twitter (https://x.com/davidkrell) McFarland Books (https://McFarlandBooks.com) Please consider supporting Hooks &...

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 Hooks & Runs continues its series, Texans in the Hall, by looking back at Mathews' career. Also this episode Shohei Ohtani's latest off-the-field skirmish; Mike Trou...

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 Major League history to pitch a no-hitter and hit 2 home runs in the same game. Wise was also the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series - considered by many to be amo...

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 All-Star pitcher Emmanuel Clase - lockers have been cleared out, so this looks serious. Where are they now? Hooks & Runs follows up on the players suspended in la...

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 Conference (SWC) and Big 12 Conference for a combined 22 years. His essay, "Southwest Conference Baseball HIstory," was appears in The National Pastime: Baseball in Texas and Beyo...

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 salary cap; MLB's tickets are overpriced for a reason; an Ozzy Osbourne post-mortum; making money while making music. Errata:  A Houston business consortium was bid...

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 runs and drove in over 1,800 runs over 21 big league seasons that included two part-time years as Cleveland's player-manager. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of F...

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 that got Luis Ortiz investigated for gambling by MLB," July 3, 2025, Fansided.com (accessed July 9, 2025). https://tinyurl.com/hooks253 Errata: Whitey...

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://x.com/TheMovieMermaid Cassangra Hager All Links - https://cassandrahager.carrd.co/ Errata - "Airplane '74" and "Airplane '77"were actually...

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 shorter works appear in The New Yorker. Gould is a New York City native; he attended ballgames at The Polo Grounds as a child and is a Mets fan. Jonathan Gould's W...

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 their stories. Plus - the Rafael Devers trade, reflecting on Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, and some 1989 baseball cards. Errata: Nolan Fontana was claimed off waivers by the Angels, not...

In April 1950, Jim Martin, a catcher for the West Texas New Mexico League’s Pampa Oilers, was violently struck by lightning during a game in Abilene, Texas. He not only survived the strike but he played the next game, going two for five. This week, Martin's daughter, Beverly Winter-Donaho, joins us to discuss Martin and his time in the minors during the 40s and 50s. In part two, Craig visits...

In this episode, we talk with Doug Wilson, author of Let's Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie Banks (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), to explore the life and legacy of one of baseball’s most beloved figures. Doug shares insights into his research process, the hidden layers of Ernie Banks’ personality, and what makes this Hall of Famer’s story still resonate today. From growing...

Craig and Rex are taking a break in May giving them a change to feature some favorite episodes from the archives and you an chance to catch up on other episodes you may have missed or wish to revisit.  This episode from the vault features our interview with Tamara Saviano, author, journalist, publicist and Grammy-nominated record producer, and writer and co-director of the documentary "Withou...

Craig and Rex are taking a break in May giving them a change to feature some favorite episodes from the archives and you an chance to catch up on other episodes you may have missed or wish to revisit.  This episode from early 2023 is our interview with Roger Metzger, the Houston Astros' Gold Glove winning shortstop in the 1970s. Hooks & Runs will resume with new episodes on June 5.  The s...

Rogers Hornsby won seven batting titles, hit .358 in his 23-year Major League career and remains the all-time batting average leader both among right handed hitters and in the National League. He managed the 1926 St. Louis Cardinals to franchise's first World Series title only to be traded two months later in a salary dispute. Hornsby's career and personal life were marked by conflict, a...