Author Perry T. Cooper is our guest this week. Cooper's new book, "The 1890 Louisville Cyclones: Major League Baseball's Original Worst-to-First Team" (McFarland, March 2026). Louisville finished the 1889 American Association season with 27 wins, 111 losses, the first Major League team to lose 100 games during a campaign. Under new manager Jack Chapman, Louisville rebounded in 1890 to first place in the AA and an 88-44 record. 

Cooper regales listeners in this interview with stories about the characters on this team and the untamed baseball world in the 1890s. 

The 1890 Louisville Cyclones at McFarland Press.
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-1890-louisville-cyclones/
Find the book at most online retailers - the book is not presently available in physical form at Bookshop.org, but can be purchased as an ebook there.

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if available), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
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Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
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Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

This week it's Rex and Craig musing over baseball and music news of the day including:

• Wander Franco's legal troubles are not over;
• Shohei Ohtani's amazing year;
• Fernando Tatis, Jr.'s power outage;
• NL Central excellence;
• the Tampa Bay Rays are at it again;
• the trouble with Minor League Baseball
• The age of Avatar Ozzy; and
• Favorite first quarter 2026 albums.

Sources: Sha Be Allah, "SOURCE SPORTS: Immigration Experts Believe Wander Franco’s Big League Career Is Finished Despite Dodging Prison," thesource.com, May 27, 2026; Jake Mintz, "What a 29-2 score says about the state of low-level minor-league baseball — and why MLB fans should care," sports.yahoo.com, May 25, 2026; Kory Grow, "Ozzy Osbourne to come back as digital avatar, answer your questions," Rolling Stone (via msn.com), May 22, 2026.

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

David Faflik, a Professor in the Department of English at the University of Rhode Island has a new book titled "Segregation Games: Boston, Busing, and the Making of Red Sox Nation" (Univ. of Massachusetts Press 2026). 

The book examines the "surprising ties in 1970s Boston between the racial segregation of the city’s schools and the racial controversies expressed on and off the field of 'Red Sox Nation.'" 

David Faflik's faculty page at URI.
https://web.uri.edu/english/meet/david-faflik/
"Segregation Games" at UMass Press
https://www.umasspress.com/9781625349286/segregation-games/

Episodes referenced: Episode 45A: "Shavermetrics w/ Scott Russell and Bill 'Spaceman' Lee (Radio Edit)"

Errata: Sam Jethroe was the first African American player to take the field for the Boston Braves - he did so on April 18, 1950. The Boston Braves signed Henry Aaron on June 14, 1952, by outbidding the New York Giants by $50.00 a month. 

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

Our guest for Chapter 1 is John McMurray, chair of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)'s Deadball Era Research Committee. His essay, "September 1, 1906: A Pivotal Game Early in the Deadball Era," appeared in the Committee's newsletter, "The Inside Game," earlier this year. 

The game between the Philadelphia A's and the home team Boston Americans (now Red Sox) lasted 24 innings with the A's winning 4-1. The game featured many deadball era baseball features including speed, defense, strategy, moving the runners, crowd participation and heroic pitching with each starter pitching complete games in this marathon contest. 

McMurray paints a vivid picture of deadball era baseball at the turn of the last century by walking us through this amazing ballgame. 

In Chapter 2, Craig and Rex discuss blue dot fever that is causing artists in the pop music business to cancel shows and entire tours this summer.

Join the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) here:
https://sabr.org/community

This is a cbc.com story on the Live Nation Lawsuit discussed in Chapter Two:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/live-nation-executive-exclusive-9.7191295

Episodes featured: 220 - In an Instant It Was All Gone: The Ray Chapman Story w/ Scott H. Longert; Ep. 72 - Seeing the World Through Baseball w/ Cousin Wolf (Matt Halvorson).

Errata: Craig mistakenly referenced the 1915 A's as one of Connie Mack's better teams -- that A's team finished 43-109, following one of Mack's sell-offs. The A's won 4 AL pennants and 3 World Series titles from 1910 to 1914. Vic Willis, a Hall of Famer, lost 29 games pitching for the 51-103 Boston Nationals in 1905, not 26 games.

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

Author and historian Kevin J. Abing is our guest this week to talk about the 1926 St. Louis Cardinals, on the 100th Anniversary of the team's first World Series championships. 

Abing is author of "Baseball Magic and Mayhem in St. Louis: The 1926 Cardinals, World Series Champions" (McFarland Press, 2026). Abing's meticulously researched book tells the story of the Cardinal's rise from National League doormat to dominance and the team's magical 1926 season.

Previous episodes discussed are No. 189, "Baseball, Chemical Warfare and the Great War w/ Jim Leeke; and No. 247, "'A Stranger Among His Own Kind," Rogers Hornsby: Texans in the Hall."

Abing's book at McFarland Press: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/baseball-magic-and-mayhem-in-st-louis/

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

Hooks & Runs returns to weekly episodes with this continuation of our series "Texans in the Hall." This entry examines the career of Tris Speaker, who played 22 years in the Majors hitting .345 with over 3,500 hits and a record 792 career doubles. He also re-wrote the book on how to play center field. Speaker was born and is buried in Hubbard, Texas in Hill County.

In part 2, another baseball card draw that includes a should be Hall of Famer and one of baseballs colorful knuckleballers.

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

Mike Czerniewski, host of This Podcast Is ... Uncalled For, joins us this week to talk about Kansas City baseball history - the Monarchs, the A's and the Royals, along with Kansas City BBQ and new digs for the Royals.

Check out our episodes 280, "Texans in the Hall: Joe Williams, Andy Cooper and Hilton Smith w/ Thomas Kern," and 262, "Rube and Bill Foster: Texans in the Hall," for stories about players that played for and against the Kansas City Monarchs.

This Podcast Is... Uncalled For on Apple Podcasts

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

Seth S. Tannenbaum, Ph.D. is assistant professor of sports studies at Manhattanville University and author of Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites: Democracy and Division at the Twentieth-Century Ballpark (University of Illinois Press 2026). 

The book speaks to the fan experience at Major League Baseball games in the twentieth century and examines changing understandings of urban space, inclusion, and democracy in the U.S.

Seth Tannenbaum's webpage (with discount code for Bleacher Seats). https://sethtannenbaum.com/research-description/

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

Our guest this episode is Thomas W. Gilbert. His new book, "Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America's First Baseball Hero" (David R. Godine, 2026), is the story of James Creighton, a young pitcher who pitched for amateur clubs in Brooklyn and is credited for inventing modern pitching. 

Gilbert's book is not only about Creighton's exploits on the field, but about the life and times of baseball in its earliest years - before the Civil War, before industrialization and before the game was played by professionals. 

Creighton died in October 1862 at age 21.

Thomas W. Gilbert's website - howbaseballhappened.com.

Death in the Strike Zone, publisher's site (https://tinyurl.com/hooks032526)

In this episode we mentioned our Episode 238 - Artie Shaw's Nightmare: The Big Band Sound Goes to War w/ Michael Doyle.

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.

On July 10, 1932, after playing 3 double headers in 3 days, Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's faced the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland's League Park. Craziness ensued. The game and players set records that have never been, and are unlikely to be, broken or even approached. 

This is the story of that game.

We discuss our sources after the outro music.

Errata: The opening game at Cleveland Stadium was July 31, 1932, not July 21st. Connie Mack was ejected from one game as manager - September 6, 1895, at the Polo Grounds in New York, while manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Consider supporting Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including those featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns.

Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hofffest
Eric on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ichaboderic/
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)   
www.premiumbeat.com/artist/ikoliks
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2026.