If there is anything that is on the same (or greater) nerdiness level for me as the Reds – it’s Pearl Jam. I’ve been a pretty big fan of them since Ten came out, and have stuck with them ever since. Heck, that’s why I was even in Philly this past fall while the World Series was going on. So, when this video surfaced today on Dan Hoard’s blog, I was a little more than giddy.
I remember when Eddie was was at GABP like it was yesterday. The thing is – he we there two nights. The Reds were playing the Cubs at the end of the season, and the Cubs were on the verge of clinching the division. To the contrary of Dan’s account that Pearl Jam was there for a concert, their 2003 tour was on break at the time. Eddie was there just on his own, probably to get a break from the tour and to watch his Cubbies clinch.
The video above shows Ed signing playing in the locker room on September 25, 2003. He also threw out the first pitch that night – in a Reds jersey. I know there was a Cincinnati.Com article about it at the time, but I can’t dig it up due to their paid archive policy.
Ed was also in attendance the night before – where the Cubs handed the Reds their asses 8-0. I was sitting with some friends out in the Sun/Moon deck that night and remember walking by the smoking section and seeing a dude that looked I thought looked like Ed. I did like 10 double-takes takes as I walked past, then headed back to my seat just wondering. After putting the pieces together – no tour at the time, Ed loves baseball, Ed loves the Cubs, Ed loves to smoke, Ed loves to wear green military jackets with buttons on them, Ed is pretty short… it hit me and I walked back over to see if he was still there… but no luck. Check out the second commenter on Dan’s blog post – pretty cool he got to meet Ed. I must say, I’m a little jealous.
To this day, any time the Cubs are in town and PJ is not on tour, I look for Ed. Maybe one day I’ll get to buy him a beer… or a helmet sundae at GABP.
