When Ernie Banks asks you to write a song about the Cubs, you oblige.
That’s just what Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder did when he penned the song “All the Way” as a tribute to the Chicago Cubs. Banks, known as “Mr. Cub” asked Vedder, a native of Evanston, Ill., and a lifelong Cubs fan, to write a song that Wrigley Field could call its own.
Banks played 19 seasons with the Cubs from 1953-1971 and was an NL All-Star for 11 of those seasons.
The story came full circle on Friday, when Mr. Cub himself made an appearance onstage during Pearl Jam’s performance of the song at Wrigley. Banks strolled on stage close to midnight, sporting a baseball mitt that once belonged to a 5-year-old Vedder, and sang along with the band as they performed “All the Way.”
The song was written as a fond look forward to the next Cubs’ World Series victory (the Northsiders haven’t won the World Series since 1908). The song makes references to Banks, Wrigley Field and Banks’ signature catchphrase, “Let’s play two!”
Check out the cool moment at Wrigley Field in the video below.
Thumbnail via Twitter/@JuddApatow
