As a baseball fan, Beckett is thrilled about getting to meet Joe Torre. Though he was the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers when the episode was shooting, Torre is most famous for managing the New York Yankees from 1996 to 2007. During those eleven years, the Yankees compiled a .605 winning percentage, made the playoffs every year, won four World Series titles, six American League pennants, and ten American League East division titles; Torre himself won AL Manager of the Year in 1996 and 1998.
The suicide squeeze is a play in baseball. In a close or low-scoring game, the team on offense might employ it in order to score an extra insurance run, the tying run, or the winning run. With a baserunner on third base, the runner breaks for home plate as the pitcher delivers the ball to the catcher, while the batter squares up for a sacrifice bunt. The play is so named because by taking off early, combined with the chance the batter might miss the bunt, the incoming runner is metaphorically committing suicide: he is likely to be tagged out at home, and with little to no time to stop and reverse direction, he is also likely to be thrown out retreating to third.
Castle references his family being psychic. He even holds his finger to his temple at one point to make a prediction. The television show "Psych" (2006-2014) is based around a consulting psychic detective. Ray Wise, who appears in this episode, had a recurring guest role in "Psych".
Beckett's badge number is 41319.
Actor Ray Wise, who plays the murder victim's agent in this episode, previously starred on the TV show Reaper as the Devil. One of his castmates from Reaper, Rick Gonzalez, is a guest star in the previous Castle episode The Third Man.