Chicago Cubs Hot Dog Vendor Is Stephen Colbert in Disguise

“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert took time off from his late-night show to sell hot dogs at Wrigley Field.

The Chicago Cubs have a 17-game lead in the NL Central and are on pace to win over 100 games for the first time since 1909. With winning comes joy and there is much joy in Wrigleyville these days. On Friday afternoon, team president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer were spotted sitting in the bleachers during the Cubs game against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was unusual enough for the pair to be in the bleachers rather than a suite, but Epstein took it up a notch by channeling his inner Bobby Valentine with a 1970s-style fake mustache. If he weighed another 100 pounds, he could have been one of those Chicago fans on Saturday Night Live that live and die with “Da Bears.”

Epstein isn’t the only person donning a disguise at Wrigley these days. On Saturday, “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert disguised himself with long hair and a goatee while masquerading as a hot dog vendor. He was taping material for his show and went by the name of Donny Franks.

Colbert is no stranger to Chicago. He graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Communication in 1986. He originally intended to be a dramatic actor and had no interest in comedy, but needed a job and started working at Second City’s box office answering phones and selling souvenirs. While working there, he took improv classes and was later hired as an understudy for Steve Carell. Here is one of his skits from 1994:

Stephen Colbert is just one of many famous Chicago Cubs fans. The team could host their own music festival with musicians who favor the Cubs, including Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Jack White of the White Stripes, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

Plenty of actors are also big fans of the Cubs. Vince Vaughn has thrown out several first pitches at Wrigley Field and John Cusack has been spotted in the stands at numerous Cubs games. Jeremy Piven, Jim Belushi, and Gary Sinise are Cubs fans, along with Nick Offerman, seen here defending his Cubs.

Perhaps the greatest Cubs fan of them all is America’s favorite uncle, Bill Murray. Murray is famous for appearing at random places and photobombing unsuspecting people. He seems to just roam the country looking for the next party in between film shoots. At the South by Southwest festival in 2010, Murray jumped behind the bar and started serving drinks. No matter what drink a person ordered, Murray handed them a shot of tequila. People all across the country have so many stories about meeting Bill Murray in random places, there’s a website devoted to them.

Unlike some celebrities, Bill Murray’s fandom is sincere. He’s been a baseball fan for years and often shows up at Cubs games to lead the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” He also once played professional baseball. It’s an interesting story and well worth the read. This was back in 1978, in the middle of his four-year run on Saturday Night Live. He had not yet appeared in his first starring role in a movie (Meatballs), but was known enough for Saturday Night Live that one of his pinch-hit appearance was reported in the Associated Press.

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He even has a page at Baseball-Reference.com, where’s he’s listed as William P. Murray. He’s credited with one hit in two at bats, for a lifetime batting average of .500. Of course, if you happen to tell someone that Bill Murray once played professional baseball, there’s a good chance that no one will ever believe you.