Matthew Tkachuk, Jayson Tatum Recreate Viral Photo Before Throwing Out First Pitch At Cardinals Game

Lots of championship hardware was at Busch Stadium on Sunday, but it wasn’t because of the St. Louis Cardinals.

"The Lou’s" MLB franchise hasn’t won a World Series since 2011 (sorry to rub it in, Cardinals fans). But two of the city’s natives more than made up for its lack of baseball titles, and brought their trophies to the ballpark today.

Aug 18, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Matthew Tkachuk (far left) and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (far right) pose for a picture with St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Alec Burleson (41) and St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) after throwing out a ceremonial first pitch prior to a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers  Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-USA TODAY Sports

Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk and Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum both grew up in St. Louis, and each one of them won the title in their respective sports less than two months ago (Tkachuk in the NHL, Tatum in the NBA). To celebrate with their home city, Tatum brought the Larry O’Brien trophy, while Tkachuk brought a heavyweight belt with the Stanley Cup logo on the front.

(Bringing the actual Stanley Cup somewhere that isn’t on your day with the cup is nearly impossible).

But before the championship festivities got underway, they had a far more important matter to attend to.

As the Celtics and Panthers made their way through their respective postseasons earlier this summer, a viral picture of the two from middle school circulated on the internet. So while they were in literally the same spot, they posed again for the same picture.

To make Part 2 even better, they got their friend Jacob Bai to join in to complete the photo op.

#ContentGold.

They rode out on the back of a truck to the delight of the crowd, and even threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the same time (Tatum's was better).

I’d say that was a pretty successful day for all involved. The only problem was that the Cardinals lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1.