Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Lyons Press, and author Wayne Stewart for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

Wayne Stewart has apparently authored a number of books about baseball. I haven’t come across him before now, but reading this book was enough to put a number of his other works on my “want to read” list.

It’s apparent that Wayne Stewart does indeed love baseball. The title of the book doesn’t really give any clue as to what the book is about except baseball. I Love Baseball consists of baseball stories from the amazing to the quirky. Stewart covers some of the amazing statistics of the game and the players who achieved them. He talks about what makes baseball great, from the players to the owners to the fans.

There are a few epic milestones here, but for the most part, Stewart covers more of the quirks of the game. There are stories that have been handed down through the years, and he gets to the heart of them. He romanticizes the antics of Earl Weaver and Whitey Herzog, managers who were quite animated when they argued. It actually made me miss those days. The various places baseball teams have called home come into play here, too, as Stewart details some of the variations in ballparks that we don’t see today. A flagpole in fair territory? Sloping outfield?

There are quotes here from players and fans as well that demonstrate the love affair people have with the game. It made me laugh at times,w hile at the same time whetting my appetite during spring training.

The book is divided into themed chapters that work pretty well. There’s no ongoing story, just a series of short stories involving baseball. It’s a very easy read I picked up and put down several times. It’s easy to pick up anywhere.

Stewart has captured what he loves about baseball in I Love Baseball, and it’s a reminder to fans why we love the game as well. There are so many different facets to it from the history to the oddities to the incredible and Stewart has highlighted it nicely.