225 - Heroes, Villains and Fools: Baseball and Theater in the Deadball Era w/ Travis Stern

11/15/24 • 37 min

Dr. Travis Stern's new book, "Ballplayers on Stage: Baseball, Melodrama, and Theatrical Celebrity in the Deadball Era" (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2024) explores the relationship between professional baseball and professional theater in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Stern joins us in this episode to talk about his book and the how baseball and the theater contributed to the rise of the American culture, culminating with Babe Ruth's emergence as a national hero in the early 1920s.
Stern is an Associate Professor of Theater Arts at Bradley University.
Travis Stern on Bluesky (@travisstern.bsky.social)
Travis Stern at Bradley University
In Part Two, Craig went to a Duster show and talks about Duster, the show and the unusual opening act, Dirty Art Club.
Errata: At one point Stern mentions seeing the "Yankees and Mets." We believe he meant to say "Yankees and Dodgers" as the Mets were not a team in the Deadball Era.
Episodes mentioned or discussed:
205 - Baseball at War: Working and Playing Ball in the Bethlehem Steel League w/ William Ecenbarger (https://tinyurl.com/hooks2051114)
82 - Rube Waddell Would Make A Hell of a Movie w/ Prof. Alan H. Levy (https://tinyurl.com/Hooks821114)
You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns
Hooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.com
Email: [email protected]
Hooks & Runs on Twitter
Craig at 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 Tik Tok
Eric on Facebook
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2024.

Previous Episode

224 - The Professor's Mysterious Concoction

Craig and Rex contemplate the end of the 2024 baseball season as the Dodgers took the first three World Series games from the Yankees. They then turn their attention to the 1949 film "It Happens Every Spring," starring Ray Milland, Jean Peters and Paul Douglas. It's a screwball comedy with a baseball-related plot. Thumb's up all around. Finally, a few words about a North Carolina man that combined artificial intelligence with internet bots to try to take on the online music business. The man is innocent until proven guilty, of course.
Justice Dep't press release in the AI, music bot case.
You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns
Hooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.com
Email: [email protected]
Hooks & Runs on Twitter
Craig at Bluesky
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on Tik Tok
Eric on Facebook
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2024.

Next Episode

226 - Baseball's Most Unusual Feats

This episode was recorded on November 5.
Craig and Rex analyze some of baseball's rarest achievements, ranging from Johnny Vander Meer's back to back no-hitters, Fernando Tatis belting two grand slams in the same inning off the same pitcher. Of course we mention Guy Hecker's 7 runs scored in a 9 innings game, a singular feat that has stood for 138 years.
Also this episode, Gerrit Cole's $144 million dance with free agency after the World Series came to an end plus the Hall of Fame's Classic Era Committee's nominees.
You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link. https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns
Hooks & Runs - www.hooksandruns.com
Email: [email protected]
Hooks & Runs on Twitter
Craig at 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 Tik Tok
Eric on Facebook
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2024.