| Grand Salami Time! | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Baseball Project |
| Cover: | The Baseball Project - Grand Salami Time.jpg |
| Alt: | A painting of a man hitting a home run with comic speech bubbles in background |
| Recorded: | 2022 |
| Studio: | Fidelitorium Recordings, Kernersville, North Carolina, US |
| Label: | Omnivore |
| Producer: | |
| Prev Title: | 3rd |
| Prev Year: | 2014 |
Grand Salami Time! is the fourth full-length studio album by American rock supergroup the Baseball Project, released by Omnivore Recordings on June 30, 2023. The album was produced by Mitch Easter, who began working with R.E.M. at the beginning of their careers; the Baseball Project features two of their former members. It also marks their first album under Omnivore, as they had previously been signed to Yep Roc.
At the urging of drummer Linda Pitmon, the band recorded this album with Mitch Easter, who had previously produced R.E.M.'s first single and co-produced that band's debut EP, debut full-length, and sophomore full-length. The sessions lasted 10 days and the songs were recorded live-to-tape in Easter's studio. The album was preceded by singles "The Voice of Baseball" (written in tribute to the late baseball announcer Vin Scully) and "Journeyman". The band also announced a brief tour of the United States supporting Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. The album is titled after a line that Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus would say when a grand slam was hit.
In American Songwriter, Lee Zimmerman rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a joyful and jubilant example of the late '70s and early '80s power pop". Steven Wine of the Associated Press praised the clever lyrics and writes that "topics are paired with garage rock that gives [guitarist Peter] Buck a chance to serve up some delightful guitar squall". BrooklynVegans Bill Pearis recommends the album to baseball fans and non-fans alike, noting that the former will get more enjoyment out of the music. Writing it for Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes calls this album "so much fun" and tells listeners that it's "pure joy putting the album on and following the lyrics in the jacket". In The Mercury News, Jim Harrington the band has "passion [that] leads to an abundance of ideas for song topics" and after multiple albums, they are "still going strong, finding plenty of musical inspiration in a seemingly endless supply of decades-old stories and modern-day tales about the game". Mario Naves of The New York Sun favorably compares this to the band's previous album, 3rd and calls it "unstoppable". Frank Valish of Under the Radar rated this work a 7 out of 10, writing that the live in-studio recording method "lends a certain energy to the proceedings" and characterizes the album as "a bunch of musical heroes having fun together and celebrating music, each other, and America's favorite pastime to boot".
The Baseball Project
Additional personnel