Rock & Roll Shin-soo Choo (audio)

We continue a countdown of our 100 favorite things about baseball and rock and roll, including a baseball player's unusual equipment choice, a champion of heavy metal, a relatively obscure baseball collectible, a defunct streaming audio service, a record store in Kansas and more.

To celebrate this landmark episode, we begin a countdown of our 100 favorite things about baseball and rock and roll. Whether this is your first episode, your 100th or somewhere in between, thank you for listening.

Every year we hold the Choo-In Hall of Fame inductions, which is intended to recognize artists that are unlikely to be enshrined into the actual Rock Hall, but we feel are equally deserving of the recognition. This year, Levi inducts Average White Band, Gabe inducts The Tubes and Jonathan inducts Gov't Mule. Warning: No baseball content in this episode.

The year 1989 was a heckuva way to close out a decade. Upper Deck disrupted the trading card industry, giving us one of the most iconic baseball cards of all time, while an earthquake shook up the World Series between two Bay-area teams - the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants. In the music industry, veterans like The Cult, XTC and Chris Rea offered superb albums that may be overshadowed by all-time classics from Tom Petty and the Beastie Boys. But newcomers like Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, and - yes - even Milli Vanilli, made breakthroughs nobody would soon forget.

In what has become an MLB Opening Day tradition, we welcome back Ricky Cobb of Super 70's Sports as a guest panelist. In addition to catching up on Ricky's whirlwind year, we critique sports uniforms, discuss underrated '70s ballplayers and share our favorite vintage baseball video games. We then go around the horn to share some storylines we are looking forward to in MLB in 2019 and our playoff and World Series predictions.

For our Field Guide to Philadelphia, we welcome Philly natives Craig Rosen and Perry Shall as guest panelists. Craig shares his memories of attending Live Aid at JFK Stadium, while Perry tells us about his involvement in the Philly music scene as both a graphic artist and musician. We all discuss local artists like The Hooters, Hall & Oates, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Marah, The War On Drugs and many more. Craig then tells us about his favorite memories for a Phillies franchise that has experienced many highs and lows over the years.

Detroit, Michigan has exported some of the finest baseball, rock and, ahem, Motown in history. In this Field Guide, we pay homage to the city's World Series champion 1968 and 1984 Detroit Tigers, the franchise's best players (along with our more obscure favorites), old Tiger Stadium and much more. Then we shift to music and share our thoughts on Detroit's place among American music hubs, choose our Detroit "Mount Rushmore" of music and share favorite lesser-known album releases from the city.

Joe Carter hit a World Series-winning home run off of Phillies reliever Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, making the Blue Jays back-to-back Series champs. And back-to-back winners was a theme carried throughout 1993 by rock's newest heavyweights. Both Nirvana and Pearl Jam followed their previous massive hits (which were still in the charts), with equally acclaimed follow-ups – In Utero and Vs., respectively. But the year was about much more than angst-ridden alternative rock. Hip hop continued its ascendency, both critically and commercially.

It's 1988 and the revolution has begun. With debut albums from Soundgarden, Jane's Addiction, NWA and Eazy-E, rock is shedding its hairspray image and rap is getting ready to take over the mainstream. In MLB, a "performance-enhanced" revolution will introduce itself to America's Pastime in the form of The Bash Brothers, as sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire will lead the Oakland A's to 104 wins and its first AL pennant since 1974. Ultimately, a hobbled Kirk Gibson will provide one of the most iconic World Series moments in history and a lights-out Orel Hershiser will lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to their first championship in more than 20 years.

Every year around the time of the actual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions, we hold the Choo-In Hall of Fame inductions. The Choo-In Hall of Fame is intended to recognize artists that are unlikely to be enshrined into the actual Rock Hall, but we feel are equally deserving of the recognition. This year, Gabe inducts folk pioneers Fairport Convention, Levi inducts acoustic guitar virtuoso Michael Hedges and Jonathan inducts multi-faceted bass player Mike Watt. Warning: No baseball content in this episode.

We examine the ashes of the Black Crowes, as brothers Rich and Chris Robinson have each formed bands that lean heavily on Crowes material. We share our thoughts on Chris's new project, As the Crow Flies, and why he is such a contentious figure. We also discuss Rich's project, Magpie Salute, and our excitement surrounding their future.

We celebrate MLB's Opening Day by inviting back Ricky Cobb of Super 70's Sports as a guest panelist. Ricky shares some details on his podcast and upcoming book. We then share some storylines we are looking forward to in MLB in 2018 - from new rules and players to old rivalries. After sharing our ALCS, NLCS and World Series predictions, Ricky shares his favorite 1970's baseball card set. Then Levi reviews his 2018 Topps collection before Gabe opens a brand new pack. Happy Opening Day, folks!

To help us recap the year in baseball and rock that was 1982, we welcome guest panelist Paulie Matushek - a lifelong Milwaukee Brewers fan and lead guitarist for the People Brothers Band. Paulie discusses the Brewers team that lost to the Cardinals in the '82 World Series and other baseball memories. We then share some of our favorite music of the year, including the lesser-known releases from ABC, the Blasters, and Phil Lynott, as well as the more popular releases from KISS, Dire Straits, and Michael Jackson.

We welcome back filmmaker Adam Galassi as we take a deep dive into movie soundtracks and scores. From original scores like The Godfather, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves and The Shape of Water to group compilations like Judgment Night, Say Anything and Rushmore, we cover quite a bit of ground - referencing more than 60 films over the course of 70 minutes. And we still didn't get to everything we wanted, which explains the rumors of a sequel already in the works. So buckle up and enjoy the ride as we take you through this blockbuster of an episode.

Collin Dupuis is a two-time GRAMMY-winning mixer and engineer credited on of our favorite albums of 2017, Marty Stuart's Way Out West. Collin has also worked with Dr. John, the Black Keys, St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey and Angel Olsen, as well as other personal favorites like Grant-Lee Phillips, Brownout and Bombino. We chat with Collin about his sessions with Bombino and Marty Stuart, as well as his "old-school" recording techniques, some of his favorites moments in recorded music and DIY recording tips. But to start the show, we discuss the Cubs' top brass insisting Sammy Sosa come clean if he wants to be involved with the organization moving forward. This leads to a discussion on the evolving opinion of confessed and suspected steroid users in baseball.

We celebrate the end of 2017 with a chat about our highlights of the year - including album releases, concerts, MLB moments and much more. We also discuss the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of inductees. Thanks for listening in 2017. Here's to another generous year of rock and baseball.

Graphic designer Margo Z. Nahas is best known for her work on Van Halen's 1984 and Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, along with albums by Seals & Crofts, Rick James and Autograph. Margo chats with us about the process of designing those albums and much more. She also shares some of her favorite album covers and whether or not connecting with the music on the record is important in the design process – an answer that may surprise you.

We pay tribute to AC/DC founding member Malcolm Young, who passed away at age 64. AC/DC's Back in Black album has sold 23 million units in the United States. As part of the grab bag portion, Gabe and Levi guess other all-time best selling albums in U.S. history. We then discuss bands that, like AC/DC, made the transition from one lead singer to another. But for the heart of the order, we honor Malcolm Young and discuss what made him so special and, relatively speaking, under appreciated. Finally, we share some baseball cards to close the episode.

In light of Tom Petty's untimely death, we create an around-the horn-setlist to celebrate his deep catalog. The opening grab bag portion of the show includes a debate on whether you'd want to forever wear Dodger or Astro uniforms (if you had to choose one), Metallica's recent appearance in Manchester, England and a trivia question on two former MLB players born on Halloween. We wrap up with a Show Your Cards segment.

Danny Clinch joined us to discuss his upcoming film, "Let's Play Two", which documents Pearl Jam's two nights at Wrigley Field during the Chicago Cubs run to the 2016 World Series. Danny also shares his connection to baseball and elaborates on another project of his - a documentary on the late Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon. We also have a grab bag of discussions to start the show and a Show Your Cards segment to close the show. Enjoy!