Mariners rock the Padres and win the Vedder Cup

MLB’s new trophy is a guitar, and namesake Eddie Vedder was on deck to give it a try.

- By JuLius MILLER

CAL RALEIGH of the Seattle Mariners hoists the so-called Vedder Cup, a custom-made Fender Telecaster guitar, after triumphing over the San Diego Padres.

Before MLB’s newest trophy was offered up as the prize in a competition between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, it had to pass through the hands of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.

The custom Fender Telecaster guitar, named the Vedder Cup, is said to have been played by its namesake for “about an hour” before it was shipped off to T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

“He gave it a good run through,” George Webb, Pearl Jam’s equipment manager, told the Seattle Times on Monday. “He always likes to feel like he puts a little energy, you know, spiritual energy, into an instrument. Not just hand off something that’s brand-new, never touched kind of thing. So yeah, jammed on it for about an hour. Had a good time.”

The trophy features many nods from the 60-year-old musician, including a hand-drawn “cresting wave” illustration and an arrow and mod symbol — an allusion to Vedder's tribute to the Who on his personal guitar. On the back, the Padres and Mariners logos appear alongside text handwritten by the singer and guitarist: “The Vedder Cup Established 2025 by Major League Baseball.”