- Record Label: Yep Roc
- Release Date: Jul 8, 2008
- Critic score
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- By date
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Far from being a throwaway side project, this unique album is as refreshing as a gapper to right center, providing, of course, it's your team up at the plate.
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The insightful tunes are cleverly composed, with a sharp sense of wit and a comprehensive knowledge of the game.
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Aside from the roistering music, what makes this ultimately so appealing is they way McCaughey and Wynn universalise their subject.
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The Baseball Project is one of those “why the hell hasn’t anybody thought of this before?” ideas that is carried out exceedingly well.
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The smart, funny, fanclub chants herein, each as catchy as Willie Mays in the ’54 Fall Classic, are gemlike tributes to the characters who’ve made that diamond shine, from Satchel Paige to Fernando Valenzuela.
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Poring through hardball's rich history with the exhaustiveness of true geeks but the wit and empathy of born songwriters, Wynn and McCaughey repeatedly manage to draw effortless metaphorical lines between baseball and life.
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These guys, backed by R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, don't flash too much leather; they make the routine plays and put good wood on the ball.
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BlenderSometimes they're tossing salad, with predictably sappy songs about sainted all-stars Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson, yet theyre funny throwing chin music at cult figures Fernando Valenzuela and Harvey Haddix. [Sep 2008, p.76]
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If you don’t know what either a frozen rope or dying quail is, this record may not be your cup of tea. Yet again, the retro/heartland rock provided by The Baseball Project is so outstanding and so catchy, it would be possible to catch yourself singing along (thus learning) about poor Harvey Haddix’s fate before you even realize it.
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Under The RadarEngaging whether you are a fan of baseball or not, the album features the same cheeky attitude and playful musicianship so identifiable in McCaughey's past work. [Fall 2008, p.86]