It’s not often mentioned, but a sizable amount of rock ’n’ roll musicians—and critics—are also baseball fanatics who can rattle off bizarre statistics and retell unbelievable stories about the national pastime that might not be fully sanctioned by the folks in Cooperstown. So witness The Baseball Project: a fearsome quintet with Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows), Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), and Linda Pitmon (Zuzu’s Petals, Steve Wynn). These music-industry pros know how to bring their chops and apply them to songs about the rise and fall of Mets star Lenny Dykstra (“From Nails to Thumbtacks”), the ego-powered antics of Alex Rodriquez (“13”), the time Dock Ellis looked to bean every member of the Cincinnati Reds (“The Day Dock Went Hunting Heads”), the poor children named after Cy Young (“A Boy Named Cy”), and the simple fact that not all baseball players are award-winning, civic-minded members of society (“They Played Baseball”). You needn't know a thing about the sport to enjoy this music, though it may raise questions you can’t answer.