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Eddie Vedder Throws Guitar Picks To Cubs Fans From Murphy's Bleachers Roof

By Jessica Cabe | October 10, 2017 4:42pm | Updated on October 11, 2017 8:42am

WRIGLEYVILLE — Cubs fans might have been bummed about the rain that canceled Tuesday's Game 4, but they certainly were not bummed about the handful of guitar picks raining down from Pearl Jam frontman and Chicago native Eddie Vedder.

Vedder, famously a huge Cubs fan who even joined local street musicians for a jam session on Sheffield and Waveland last month, was on the rooftop of Murphy's Bleachers when he was caught on video throwing guitar picks to fans below.

One of those lucky fans was Matt Gustin, who lived in Lakeview for five years before recently moving to Indiana.

Gustin said he was walking around the back of the bleachers before Tuesday's scheduled game and noticed some people with their phones filming across the street at Murphy's Bleachers.

"I had a feeling it might be Eddie because he is known to hang out on the roof of Murphy's pregame," Gustin said. "Sure enough, it was him."

Gustin noticed Vedder tossing guitar picks over the street where he had been standing, but at first he didn't think he'd be able to catch one.

"Unfortunately, the wind kept the picks from reaching us," he said. "But I noticed that downstairs where they were landing, no one knew what they were or where they were coming from. So I ran downstairs, and sure enough a security guard was standing right next to one.

"I asked politely if I could have that piece of plastic that's on the ground, and he said no problem."

Gustin said it was a funny coincidence because last year when Pearl Jam was recording its documentary "Let's Play Two," he was interviewed by the film crew.

"I'm pretty sure I'm in the new movie 'Let's Play Two,'" he said. "Right place at the right time, I guess."

The video of Vedder tossing guitar picks to fans on Tuesday was taken by Chicago Tribune sportswriter Paul Sullivan and shared on Twitter about 3:30 p.m. Sullivan's Twitter feed also shows a fan threw Vedder a baseball, and Vedder signed the ball and threw it back.

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