Forty years ago, Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock caused a sensation with "The Bronx Zoo," a rowdy, foul-mouthed look at the Yankees' tumultuous 1978 season. Golenbock joins us to look back at the classic book and its enduring legacy.
Featured song: "Go Mental," the Ramones.
Author Chris Zantow joins us to discuss how car dealer Bud Selig and a group of Milwaukee citizens led the effort to bring a major league team back to the city following the departure of the Braves for Atlanta. Along the way, Selig & Co. ran into stiff opposition from baseball's power brokers, who didn't see Milwaukee as a viable market.
In 1978, San Francisco was shaken by the assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk and the massacre at Jonestown. Meanwhile, the city's punk rock scene exploded and Vida Blue, Jack Clark and the Giants provided an unexpected pennant race. Lincoln Mitchell joins us to tie it all together.
Although few fans in the United State may know it, baseball has a long and culturally important history in Europe. Author Josh Chetwynd joins us to discuss the impact of the game in the Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain and more than 40 other European countries.
In the summer of 1911, a group of murderers, rapists and other hardened convicts at the Wyoming State Penitentiary garnered national attention through their prowess at baseball. Author Chris Enss joins us to discuss a remarkable tale of corruption, politics, violence and home runs in a state that was transitioning from the Old West into the modern world.
Find out more about the author at chrisenss.com.
The 1948 American League pennant race was one of the greatest in history, featuring legendary stars, an iconoclastic owner and a one-game playoff to determine which team would advance to the World Series. Author David Kaiser joins to discuss Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Satchel Paige, Bill Veeck and more.
Many experts believe Oscar Charleston is among the handful of best players in baseball history. So why is the former Negro Leagues star virtually forgotten today? Jeremy Beer joins us to discuss the life and legacy of the man who dominated black baseball in the 1920s and 1930s.
Jean Fruth has photographed amateur baseball players from Cuba to Oakland, from Japan to the Bronx and other baseball hotbeds throughout the world. Fruth and former Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson join us to discuss her book of more than 250 photos, as well as their efforts to grow amateur baseball around the globe.
In 2018, the Red Sox won the World Series with perhaps the best team ever in the franchise's storied history. Author Alex Speier joins us to explain how Boston spent years methodically developing a generation of elite prospects who led the team to the promised land.
Over the past two decades, Major League Baseball has put a lot of effort into honoring Jackie Robinson as a heroic man who broke the color barrier. But Robinson's legacy has been sanitized and oversimplified, says author David Naze. Robinson was a complex man who engaged in controversial political activity, had public clashes with other prominent African-Americans and didn't hesitate to criticize MLB.
Featured song: "This is My Country," the Impressions.
"The Celebrant" has been lauded as one of the greatest baseball novels ever written. Eric Rolfe Greenberg joins us to discuss his classic tale of a Jewish immigrant whose life intersects with the career of legendary New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson over two decades.
Featured song: "Sensation," Scott Joplin.
One hundred years ago today, the infamous 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds began. Author David Fleitz joins us to discuss his biography of Shoeless Joe Jackson, the man who has become the focal point of the Black Sox scandal in the public imagination.
Featured song: "I'm a Man," Joe Jackson.
Following the 1934 World Series, Cardinal aces Dizzy and Paul Dean set off on a 14-game barnstorming tour that saw them compete against such legendary Negro League stars as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston. Award-winning author Phil S. Dixon joins us to discuss "the greatest barnstorming tour of all time" — and how the white newspaper reporters covering the Deans missed the most important story.
Featured song: "Ramblin' On My Mind," Chris Thomas King.
Dale Murphy was one of the best, and most respected, players of the 1980s. Yet the former Braves star has not gotten close to being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Author Kirk McKnight joins us to discuss why he think Murph belongs in Cooperstown.
Featured song: "Do it Clean," Echo & the Bunnymen.
In 1992, nine MLB All-Stars "appeared" as themselves on a third season episode of "The Simpsons." In the 27 years since, "Homer at the Bat" has become one of the most remembered episodes of the classic animated TV series, beloved by generations of fans. Emily Hawks joins us to discuss Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey Jr. and the rest of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plants softball squad.
Featured song: "The Simpsons" Main Title Themes, Danny Elfman.
For more than four decades, the Birmingham Black Barons were one of the premier teams in all of black baseball. Author William J. Plott joins us to discuss the legacy of the team that helped launch the careers of Satchel Paige, Willie Mays and others.
Featured song: "Frosty," Albert Collins.
In late 1926, the baseball world was rocked after allegations emerged that superstars Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker had thrown a game seven years earlier. Author Ian Kahanowitz joins us to discuss the Dutch Leonard Affair, which almost destroyed the game itself.
Featured song: "You Better You Bet," the Who.
Ruth vs. Williams. Jeter vs. Nomar. Boggs vs. A-Rod. For more than a century, the Yankees and Red Sox have battled for baseball supremacy. Authors Bill Nowlin and David Fischer join us to take an in-depth, position-by-position look at the greatest rivalry in sports.
Featured song: "My Rival," Alex Chilton.
In the tumultuous year of 1969, the lowly Washington Senators shocked the baseball world by posting their first (and only) winning season. Led by manager Ted Williams and stars like Frank Howard and Dick Bosman, the team won a permanent place in the hearts of fans in the nation's capital. Stephen J. Walker joins us to discuss that memorable season.
Featured song: "Good Times, Bad Times," Led Zeppelin.
In 2009, the New York Yankees were a franchise in transition. Mark Feinsand and Bryan Hoch join us to discuss how the new-look Bronx Bombers managed to win one final World Series with the Core Four of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.
Featured Song: "Empire State of Mind," Jay Z feat. Alicia Keys.
Edgar Martinez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday, completing an unlikely journey from Puerto Rico to Cooperstown. Larry Stone, who co-authored Martinez's autobiography, joins us to discuss the life and career of the legendary Mariners designated hitter.
Featured song: "Viva! Sea Tac," Robyn Hitchcock.
Authors Jeremy Frank and Jim Passon join us to discuss their new book, which focuses on "the baseball stats you never thought to look for" from the 19th century through the Deadball Era.
Featured song: "I Can't Hide," Flamin' Groovies.
Ruth. Gehrig. DiMaggio. Mantle. Costanza? For decades, the New York Yankees have been at the forefront of American popular culture, from movies to TV to music. David Krell returns to the podcast to discuss Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Damn Yankees, Simon & Garfunkel and more.
Featured song: "New York, New York," Frank Sinatra.
Big Ed Delahanty, a slugging, hard-drinking outfielder, was one of baseball's top superstars in the 1890s. But 116 years later, his death remains shrouded in mystery. Author Mike Sowell returns to the podcast to discuss Delahanty and the baseball wars of the late 19th century.
To get a copy of the out-of-print book for $10, email Sowell at sowellm1 (at) mac.com.
Featured song: "Mystery Train," Little Junior's Blue Flames.
When Dick Cramer started analyzing baseball data in the 1960s, the term sabermetrics hadn't even been coined yet. Cramer joins us to discuss his pioneering work in the field, including his role in the founding of STATS and in disproving the concept of clutch hitting.
Featured song: "2000 Man," the Rolling Stones.