The Baseball Project’s Scott McCaughey has fond memories of visiting Cleveland when it hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game back in 2019. To help celebrate the event, the Rock Hall invited the group of veteran rockers — which also includes former R.E.M. members Peter Buck and Mike Mills, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon — to perform during the week leading up to the game.
. “That was amazing. That was a great five days in Cleveland with the baseball action and rock ’n’ roll. We played the Happy Dog one night, and Peter [Buck] and I played a house concert.” “It’s a mighty arsenal of rock,” McCaughey says of the lineup. “We weren’t sure how this baseball business would go over with the indie rock fans, but a lot of them really dig it. I think some people who love baseball but don’t care about our music have gotten into it too.”
“At one point, Steve even said, ‘Why don’t you send me a song that sounds like R.E.M.?’” says McCaughey. “Peter said, ‘No problem.’ He then banged out ‘Journeyman,’ and Steve came up with the lyrics. Linda offers a lot, too. She doesn’t get the writing credit, but she has a lot to do with arrangements and is very involved in editing the lyrics.”