Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder Broke Into Wrigley Field to Take Batting Practice After 2016 NLCS
As a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan with a certain amount of fame, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder has experienced some pretty special moments over the years, including being present at many great experiences leading up to the team's 2016 World Series championship. During a recent appearance on The Artist and the Athlete podcast (heard below) with host Lindsay Czarniak and special guest, Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Vedder confirmed a story that he once broke in to Chicago's Wrigley Field to take batting practice, albeit with a well-connected friend.
Vedder first served up some background about being able to join the team at pitcher Jon Lester's party drinking some of the finest whiskey after the team's 2016 National League Championship series win that would send the Cubs to their first World Series in 106 years. But while the team would eventually have to get ready to travel, Vedder kept the party going with Chicago Cubs general manager Theo Epstein.
He told Czarniak that they made their way back to one of baseball's most historic venues, Wrigley Field, to continue their celebration.
"Theo and I, the night was still young at around 3:30 and to go to bed would seem like a waste of that fine whiskey and this particular elevated feeling that we had for so many reasons. But we ended up back at the ballpark, me and Theo and I believe a guy named Scott Harris, and we took some swings in the cage and that felt pretty good," recalled Vedder.
He added, "Then we just walked out to the field and it was that calm and a little bit of glow from a certain amount of work lights at Wrigley and the sky was just starting to lighten up a little bit from the east and it wasn’t until we just laid in the outfield grass that we could really, without saying a word, we could hear people on the faraway rooftops and balconies and still singing and still cheering."
The singer recalls, "We didn’t have to say anything. We just started laughing thinking what just happened and them going to the World Series."
It was a hard fought victory for the Cubs who had to go the full seven games to defeat the Cleveland Indians, but the memory of that historic season is something that stuck with Vedder and paid off his lifelong fandom.
Vedder and Rizzo share more baseball and music stories that have evolved over their friendship in the full episode of The Artist and The Athlete that can be checked out at this location.
Eddie Vedder Speaks With The Artist and The Athlete Podcast