Everything comes back to the game

In 2007, members of REM, the Dream Syndicate, and the Young Fresh Fellows united for a common cause — to write songs about baseball.

“We wanted to do an ice-hockey band but had been beaten to the punch, literally, by the No Means No side project the Hanson Brothers, and then the Zambonis,” singer/guitarist Scott McCaughey explained to the Reader via email. “Also, San Diego never had an NHL franchise, so looking to future touring prospects we figured, ‘Let’s go with baseball.’”

Seven years later, the Baseball Project’s career stats are running strong. McCaughey and veteran rocker Steve Wynn handle the singing and songwriting duties, Linda Pitmon plays drums, and ex-REM members Mike Mills and Peter Buck do all the rest. Their latest offering, 3rd, finds the band mining the history and lifestyle of the sport to craft the lyrical basis of their songs. Even if it’s just a series of numbers yelled out at random in album opener “Stats,” everything comes back to the game.

But nothing relates directly to the Padres...yet. McCaughey revealed plans for a potential Padres tune.

“I’m considering one right now. It might be a bit obtuse for the average baseball fan, but it would involve the early California mission system, and Father Junípero Serra’s attempts to get the native populations to learn the game. I think it’s got potential.

“I have been to over 40 Major League ball parks and never went to Qualcomm/Jack Murphy and still haven’t hit Petco. Though, I absolutely will, sooner than later. I’ve seen it from downtown and it looks beautiful. The Young Fresh Fellows would sadly drive past Jack Murphy in the ’80s knowing we couldn’t make the game because we had to play a damn rock show at the old Casbah (yeah, we had some fun there, though). Tony Gwynn was fantastic. Who in the world didn’t like Tony Gwynn?”

The Baseball Project slides into Soda Bar Thursday, September 4.