Three things get me super-hyped for baseball season:

1. Taking the Red Line past Wrigley Field;
2. Buying tickets for a baseball game;
3. Listening to The Baseball Project.

I’ve taken the train past Wrigley multiple times this calendar year, and I have already purchased tickets for a few Cubs games this season. Despite the overcast and rainy weather that’s expected to spread into this week, listening to The Baseball Project is like the sun shining down after a rain delay spent in the concourse of winter.

The Baseball Project is a rock band that sings about baseball. They’re recommended if you like: R.E.M. (the band features Peter Buck and Mike Mills; plus they frequently play Don’t Go Back to Rockville in their live shows), the Minus Five (because the band also features Scott McCaughey), the Dream Syndicate (hello Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon), and/or baseball.

For the playlist I tried to pick more timeless songs (as much as I love “Panda and the Freak” and “Don’t Call Them Twinkies,” those songs didn’t have the staying power to last until 2017), set it up like two record sides (think of “Past Time” >>> “Here Lies Carl Mays” as side one, with “Box Scores” >>> “The Closer” as side two) at ideal playlist length (at 13 songs and 47 minutes, it’s close to what I usually go for).

It’s Opening Day y’all. Enjoy.

Epilogue song for Opening Day: All Future and No Past from the Broadside Ballads series.