CD Review: Baseball Songs Sports Heroes

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Baseball Songs Sports Heroes

While there are movies and books available for dedicated sports fans, most aren’t familiar with Joe Pickering Jr. and Phil Coley’s collection of CDs on baseball songs. The first in this series is entitled Baseball Songs Sports Heroes: People Who Have Made a Difference. On this album there are everything from songs about individual players to the last days of Fenway Park even to God’s feelings towards some of the most popular teams in the league.

Truthfully, the album is like a look back into baseball time and provides a history lesson for even the most astute of baseball fans.

The second song on the album is about the fateful day when Fenway Park will be torn down. In the chorus of the song, the words claim that even though the new stadium may be better than the one before in its amenities, it will never be able to live up to Fenway as a destination.

It becomes obvious that the makers of this album are hardcore Red Sox fans as the first half of the album is dedicated to things such as Babe Ruth’s Curse and the other mysteries that held the Sox back from winning the World Series for so many years. There are actually two entire songs dedicated to the curse of Babe Ruth on the Sox, asking him to relieve his curse and telling him that the fans of the team had been through enough.

Even though much of the album is dedicated to the Red Sox, other songs are not off limits either. There is a song entitled “God’s Not a Mets Fan,” which was inspired by the 2000 World Series. Since the Yankees had no trouble getting through the Mets, Pickering and Coley decided that it was obvious that God had chosen the team from the Bronx over the team from Queens.

There is also an interesting song about the use of Indian culture as baseball names called, “I’m Not Your Mascot, I’m A Man!” This song points out teams like the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians and claims that they are going against all morals simply by allowing their team to be named in such  derogatory terms.

If one continues to listen to the album, they will further learn the obsession that the two song writers have on the Sox. There is a song dedicated to the best Red Sox fan in the history of the game claiming that she lived a long life, but was never able to see the Sox win a championship.

Most of the songs on the album are very catchy and they are all very impressive works. It is very

interesting that the songs were able to be put together for this venture and it really does give fans an interesting perspective on the game. In addition to those songs that are listed above, there are also songs about people such as Louis Sockalexis who was a Native American player who was not allowed full access to the game due to his heritage.

This CD can also be found in the National Baseball Hall of Fame song collection. Which is very cool!

The Grade: 4/5

Information about this album and others by these musicians can be found at www.kingoftheroadmusic.com.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].