Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder is not only a diehard Cubs fan, but also shared an incredible friendship with Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. Vedder shared some of his cherished memories of their friendship on Off The Mound with Ryan Dempster. 

Pearl Jam has performed at Wrigley Field five times and for Vedder, there’s nothing like a show  at Wrigley Field while being on stage with Ernie Banks. Vedder and Banks had a strong bond that grew over time. 

“He would just call me. What a wonderful thing that was to have that in your life. And also, really go deep with Ernie. You could ask him anything,” Vedder said. 

As Vedder started to become emotional, he  recalled a bad storm that occured before  playing at Wrigley Field for the first time.

“There was a big rain delay because the lightning came hardcore. It was a crazy two hour lightning storm and we can’t play the next day and we don’t know what to do. Ernie said, ‘Let’s play two.’ We were like, ‘let’s play ‘til 2’ because we didn’t get back on stage until midnight,” Vedder said. “He was up there and he was the next one to come out on our next set. I said, ‘Ernie, it might be a while. I spoke with the weather man and it might be a while.’ He said, ‘Okay. Is that a bottle of red wine?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And he says, ‘I’ll have a glass of that.’ 

While Vedder spent time backstage with Mr Cub, and even brought a special item with him to   his first show at Wrigley. 

“I had this old mitt of mine. It was my very first glove and decided to bring it to Wrigley. I had it there and I said, ‘Ernie, would you sign this mitt?’ He signed it and he put it on and said, ‘Now this is a great glove. This is how gloves should be. There is love in this glove.’ He said, ‘Would you mind if I kept this glove? There is love in this glove and we would have a connection’”, Vedder said. “I gave him that glove and just going back, if you ever thought that Ernie Banks would ask you for your glove? It’s a special bond.”