Quotes From Reviews
"I Love Baseball pleases on the first
visit and delights on repeated visits. If you yearn for baseball’s past and lament what we have lost, the album does
not disappoint. Vozzolo and Manning know how to get to the heart of baseball’s nostalgia and dreams. And to yours."
-NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Social Policy Perspectives
"I
have collected quite a few CDs and cassettes with songs about the national pastime. While there are some wonderful compilations
(with songs from a variety of artists) out there, without a doubt the best collection of baseball songs from a single artist
is I Love Baseball, by Steve Vozzolo and the Rookies. The topics of the compositions (e.g., peanuts, the Hall of
Fame, baseball cards) are wonderful, and Steve's vocals are perfectly matched to the material penned by Steve and Joe
Manning." -Joe Mock, webmaster of BASEBALLPARKS.COM and author
of Joe Mock's Ballpark Guide
"I Love Baseball is a wonderful, original
album of baseball songs. The album really does go around the horn: from scouting ("They Say There’s a Kid in Texas"),
to nostalgia ("When Baseball Was Just a Game"), to the heartbreak of discovering missing parts of our childhood
("My Mother Threw Mine Away" -- cards, of course). And it roams the entire country of baseball, from Little League
and high school games ("Big Game Tonight" has a great image of Grandpa re-enacting an at bat), to the minors ("Triple-A
Blues"). I especially liked "Sometimes It Rains." I also enjoyed the sultry tribute to "The Peanut":
‘it's time the peanut took its rightful place in baseball history.’ Some songs rock (like the lead-off "I
Love Baseball"); others are soft and thoughtful ("Cooperstown" – ‘a place in our dreams where the
stars look down.’) "Black Diamond Days," which is about the Negro Leagues, is as cool as Papa Bell and jazzy
as Satchel. "Baseball’s Sad Lexicon" is the old Franklin P. Adams poem (‘Tinker to Evers to Chance’)
turned into a ballad. Finally, there is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." You hear the whole song, not just the refrain
that everybody knows. This is a fine rendition, and might someday make Katy Casey as famous as the Casey who robbed Mudville
of its joy. She is the ultimate fan and has a fan’s priorities, and I think she’d love this album. Highly recommended."
-Gene
Carney at Baseball1.com
