When the photo went viral, so many people had the same question: Who’s the third kid?
The famous photo was of then-Chaminade seventh graders Matthew Tkachuk and Jayson Tatum on a school bus. The ºüÀêÊÓƵ kids have since become sports superstars. This year, of course, Tkachuk led the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup, and Tatum led the Boston Celtics to the NBA championship.
The photo spread online in June 2024, but there was a third head sticking up behind Tkachuk and Tatum.
“My dad texted me right away — he was like, ‘They just showed you on ESPN!’†said Jacob Bai, a fellow member of the Chaminade Class of 2016. “I was like, ‘Oh, wow!’ And then five of my buddies Snapchatted me — ‘Dude, you are in this picture!’â€
It’s a unique sports photo — two innocent school kids just hanging out (well, three kids). Major sports sites tweeted it during the Stanley Cup Final and the NBA Finals. And on Sunday at the Cardinals game, the photo was recreated.
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The Cardinals contacted Bai, who lives in San Diego, and flew him home to ºüÀêÊÓƵ, along with Bai’s fiancee, Rachel Anne Ramos.
And before the Cardinals-Dodgers game, Tatum and Tkachuk each arrived at Busch Stadium — and were greeted with red City Connect jerseys with their names and numbers on the back. Tatum brought along a friend, Larry (O’Brien, the NBA championship trophy). After the two hometown heroes were paraded in a truck around the field and threw out the ceremonial first pitches — Tkachuk to Alec Burleson and Tatum to Ryan Helsley, who had fellow relievers wear a green Tatum jersey during the playoffs — they met Bai in a suite.
The Cardinals photo staff set up the photo (team PR allowed the Post-Dispatch to be there, too). Bai sat right behind the two stars, and they posed like the old days. Then, someone handed them copies of the famous photo to hold up.
But Bai couldn’t remember where the bus was going that day. Perhaps Chicago?
“Dayton!†Jayson Tatum told him.
The Chaminade class had gone to the University of Dayton to learn about aeronautical engineering.
After graduating in 2016, Tatum went to Duke, and Bai went to Notre Dame (where he met Ramos, a student at nearby St. Mary’s) and then lived in New York as an intern on Wall Street. After college, he moved to Phoenix to be a CLO analyst. Now he’s in San Diego: “I'm a high-yield bond analyst, covering tech, media and telecom for Voya Investment Management,†Bai said. “I run mutual funds there. I'm a chartered financial analyst.â€
Bai has fond memories of Tkachuk and Tatum, who was his seventh grade lab partner in biology class. Bai also played on a seventh and eighth grade basketball team with Tatum — Bai even brought the team pics to Busch.
“Everyone (from Chaminade),†Bai said, “has a unique story. ‘I saw Jayson in mentor group, like, five days a week!’ He was always the nicest guy. He's always signing pictures. He was always taking pictures with people. ... And then Tkachuk is a great guy, but when it comes to floor hockey (in gym class), it was no joke. It was — dude, game's on. He never took it light. Seventh grade, eighth grade. ... I think he might have been floor hockey's greatest player. ...
“Everyone has hometown heroes — no matter where you go in the country, everyone's like, ‘Oh, this guy I played against was so good in high school.’ ... But to have my face among two of the greatest, newer players in their respective leagues? It’s just awesome. ... It’s incredible.â€