Note: The Baseball Project is the brainchild of Scott McCaughey (former Young Fresh Fellows and current The Minus 5 frontman; and touring R.E.M. musician) and Steve Wynn (best known as frontman of ‘80s rockers Dream Syndicate). The two baseball lovers collaborated to write an entire album’s worth of quirky, narrative-heavy tunes that document anecdotal nuggets about the sport’s rich history.

Also Note: R.E.M. guitarist and The Minus 5 bandmember Peter Buck plays on here.

Sound: Bouncy and bright indie pop, stomping and driving barroom rock, jangly and breezy alt country and more.

Heavy Rotation tracks: “Harvey Haddix” (Top 20 Songs of 2008 Candidate); “Gratitude (For Curt Flood)”; “Satchel Paige Said”

Medium Rotation tracks: “Past Time”; “The Death of Big Ed Delahanty”; “The Yankee Flipper”

Recommended: The Baseball Project makes learning parts of the history of the game fun, kind of like the way educational kids’ music teaches and entertains simultaneously. But this stuff is certainly quite a bit edgier, headier, more tongue-in-cheek and more adult than your average toddler-friendly, sing-along song. Though there’s a bit of a lull as the album reaches the halfway point, it eventually rallies in a big way. Overall, it’s an informative and amusing listen with many highlights.

Grade: B+