Baseball's Greatest Hits - Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails

"Writing a song about Harvey Haddix or Curt Flood didn't seem like much of a stretch for us," explains ex-Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn, who joined with REM guitarist Scott McCaughey last year to form The Baseball Project. Their first album, Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, released on Yep Roc this week, veers away from the familiar territory of baseball ditties like "Centerfield" and "Talkin' Baseball" to explore edgier subjects like Big Ed Delahanty's plunge over Niagara Falls and Jack McDowell flipping the bird to Yankee fans. Here's their short list of their favorite baseball songs -- with attitude.

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Steve Goodman

A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request: "This one sets the bar so high I don't know if anyone can match it," says Mr. McCaughey. Mr. Goodman, a Chicago native, released this in 1983 after he was diagnosed with leukemia, but it's hardly a tearjerker: "It's a beautiful day for a funeral/Hey Ernie, let's play two!"

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Bob Dylan

Catfish: This obscure 1975 ballad about Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter includes a dig at former Oakland A's owner Charles O. Finley. "He used to work on Mr. Finley's Farm/But the old man wouldn't pay." "It really feels like a Dylan song," explains Mr. Wynn. "It's simple and direct, but it's also mythological."

J. Neo Marvin

Barbara Manning and the SF Seals

Dock Ellis: A psychedelic homage to the Pittsburgh pitcher by that name who once claimed to have thrown a 1970 no-hitter while on LSD. "It sounds like the inside of somebody's brain while they're pitching on acid," says Mr. Wynn.