The Moonlight Graham Show

His pursuit of professional baseball took him outside of the state and through seven countries before hanging up his spikes and starting work as a paralegal. Tim and J.D. sat down recently in the Scholten for Congress RV that has traveled all across Iowa's 4th congressional district as he campaigns for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.

When thinking about baseball in Iowa, two things quickly come time mind: Bob Feller and Field of Dreams. As a podcast which has prided itself on exploring the untold stories of sports in Iowa, we wanted to do a deep dive on the best baseball players in Iowa since the Heater from Van Meter.

Underdogs come in all shapes and sizes. This week's underdog started out as a size small but grew into one of the most impactful players in the NFL. Fred Jackson grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area but had to relocate to a slightly smaller metro area to get an opportunity in college football. Jackson's underdog story is unique because he went from not even playing for his high school team to bei...

While Troy Davis is clearly the most notable Cyclone from the mid-1990s, the offensive line clearing the 8 or 9 guys in the box for TD was pretty talented. This week, the Moonlight Graham Show welcomes one of the best Cyclone offensive linemen from that time period, Tim Kohn. While the Cyclones didn't collect a lot of wins during his time in Ames, Tim Kohn made a name for himself as a talented tac...

Ethan Bryan was first on the podcast in 2018 when he was in the process of playing catch every day for an entire year. Now, it is our pleasure to bring the author Ethan Bryan onto the podcast to discuss his newly released book, " A Year of Playing Catch" .

This week's Moonlighter is a West Coast product that has taken to the midwest. Alex Redmond grew up in Southern California and attended UCLA. Redmond spent the last 5 seasons in Cincinnati and spent the 2018 season as the starting right guard for the Bengals. His experiences as a wrestler and physical toughness have helped him overcome injuries and keep himself in the game. Between UCLA and Cinnci...

Most of our Moonlighters have hung up the cleats and turned out the lights in the locker room for the last time. This week we sit down with a guy who is just coming onto the scene. Reid Sinnett is a local product who is currently getting ready for his first NFL season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sinnett has made his way as a backup who has earned every opportunity since 8th grade and now is sit...

This week, our Moonlighter has a basketball career that has taken him from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, around the world, and back again. Travis Diener grew up in Wisconsin and went to Marquette University where he and the Golden Eagles went all the way to the Final Four. For most, taking your home-state college to the Final Four would be a great ending to a Cinderella story. But for this Moonlighter,...

Growing up in small-town Walker, IA, and attending North Linn High School, Hilmer was a do-it-all guy for the Lynx. While many top-level high school athletes have to make a choice and focus on a single sport, Hilmer didn't. Now as an Upper Iowa Peacock, he continues to pursue his passion on both the diamond and the hardwood. Jake Hilmer is a one of a kind athlete that just happens to play two spor...

Everyone knows about his short-lived Major League career, but Archibald Graham has so much more to his story. In this episode, Tim and resident historian Tom take a deep dive into Archibald Moonlight Graham's legacy. We know of Moonlight Graham because author W.P. Kinsella came across a random entry in a baseball encyclopedia, but the good people of Chisolm, MN celebrate Doc 'Moonlight' Graham Day...

Caleb Thielbar grew up in Minnesota always wanting to play in the big leagues. On May 20th of 2013, he made his debut for his hometown Twins. Sounds like a dream story. But Moonlight Graham rarely focuses on someone's direct path to success. This week, Tim sits down with Thielbar a little over 7 years later as he makes his return to the Bigs from an injury and a long, winding rehab.

Author Jacob Kornhauser joins the Moonlight Graham Show to talk about his latest book. "The Cup of Coffee Club" includes a myriad of stories. Some read like a tragedy while others are just bad luck. Some players shined in their debut while others were barely a blip in the boxscore. Every story has its own twists. Kornhauser chased down the tales of 11 members of the club to tell their story and wa...

This week brings an Iowa icon into the studio, Scott Siepker. The Carroll County native sits down with Tim to talk all things Iowa. Siepker has made a name, and brand for himself, by celebrating the Iowa lifestyle and being passionate about Iowa. Siepker's is a very talented jack of all trades. From appearances on the Murph and Andy Show on Fridays to working on original film projects, Siepker is...

Judd Gibb has had a great deal of success as a golfer in the last 30+ years. Gibb was a 2x NCAA Regional Qualifier when he was golfing at Iowa State in the late 80s and early 1990s. After graduating, he went on to play in mini-tours in the 90s and won many awards in the 2000s. Gibb was the Iowa PGA Section Player of the Year 5 times and teacher of the year 2 times along with many tournament wins t...

Tony Watson played for the Mustangs of DC-G and had one of the most dominant seasons in high school baseball as a senior in 2003. Throwing three no-hitters and giving up only 1 run, Watson made a name for himself and was selected in the 23rd round of the 2003 MLB draft by the Marlins. Instead of heading South, Watson took his talents to Lincoln to play for Nebraska at one of the highpoints in Corn...

This week Tim and Tom returned to the undisclosed sauna to trade takes on what has made them love sports as players, coaches, fans, and parents. As we have seen after going without the last several months, sports are an important part of our lives for many reasons. Being on a team both teaches you many skills and builds relationships that will last a lifetime. Competing, whether it is on your high...

Dwight Siebler found success in the minors in 1959 and into the early 1960s, averaging more than 1 strikeout per inning in over 400 innings pitched. That success in the minors earned him his first call up in 1963. Siebler went on to play in 48 games for the Twins, including 8 starts and 2 complete games.  One of the high points of Twins' history was the 1965 World Series Team. Some of the all-time...

Jenny Harestad was a senior at ISU in 1999-2000 when she tried out and Clare Flattery was a junior at UNI when she auditioned 2 years ago. Jenny and Clare saw advertisements for mascot tryouts and gave it a shot even though they had never been a mascot before. With the help of MC Hammer and some improv skills, Jenny and Clare wowed at their respective auditions.  Once earning the mantle of mascot,...

Denise Long Rife was known for her work ethic and long hours of practice. As a forward in 6 on 6 basketball, her job was to score without worrying about running the court or playing defense. She took her practice so seriously that the park where she shot baskets while it was -11 degrees is now named after her. The countless hours of shooting helped her on her way to the national scoring record. Af...

This week's Moonlighter story starts the way many stories do but ends up alongside a host of Hall of Famers. Steve Dreyer called himself a pretty good high school baseball player who just wanted to keep playing after high school. However, as the 4th guy in the rotation at Ames High, not too many programs were knocking on his door. Dreyer's desire to keep playing and willingness to work just kept o...

Roman Weinberg is passionate about baseball and the Field of Dreams site. Weinberg started as an intern in 2014 at the Field of Dreams and has worked his way up to his current role. His responsibilities on and off of the field include all kinds of duties, but things have been changing quickly with the development of the major league ballpark and the addition of the Baseballism store over the last...

This week's Moonlighter takes a weekend hobby to a new level. Tom Coyne isn't just an avid golfer. He literally wrote the book on golfing in Ireland, Scotland, and is in the process of writing the book on golf in America. Tom Coyne has published four books: A Gentleman's Game, Paper Tiger, A Course Called Ireland, and A Course Called Scotland. His first book, A Gentleman's Game was turned into a 2...

When he came to the podcast in season 2, Merritt had won the 2015 Quicken Loans National, finishing just ahead of Rickie Fowler, and was establishing himself as a top 100 player. Merritt rode the Moonlight bump to a second PGA win in 2018 at the Barbosal Championship in Kentucky. That win was made more difficult by pain and pressure in his left arm that made even swinging a club painful. Days afte...

Tim Flattery talks with Joey Mellows, the mustachioed englishman who quit his job to watch baseball.  Are you a proud supporter of the Moonlight Graham Show? Buy the "Moonlighter Tee" -  https://www.moonlightgrahamshow.com/buy-swag/moonlighter-tee-1

This week's Moonlighter is actually a two for one. Our story starts with baseball historian Pete Gorton has spent countless hours digging deeper into the annals of history and finding stories that most don't even know exist. Gorton has unearthed more information about players, games, and records than most anyone else will ever know. However, there was one story he came across that grabbed his atte...