Cubs Cameo: 2018 Topps #189 Jedd Gyorko

A few weeks ago, I had a post about the 2018 Topps Starlin Castro card. It featured a nice moment, Castro tipping his cap to the Cubs dugout in his first trip back to Wrigley Field after being traded to the Yankees. But one of the things that made it a keeper was the Willson Contreras cameo in the background.

Fast forward to this past weekend and I picked up a few packs at Toys R Us. I haven't been to one of these in a while, I've got a high school junior and a college freshman. But after seeing what purple parallels go for, I thought I'd give them a try. I didn't pull a single purple Cub, but after sorting my base cards I did come across the Jedd Gyorko card.

There are only two good reasons I would keep a Cardinals card for my collection. Ivy in the background or a Cubs cameo.

In this case, we have another Willson Contreras sighting! And like the Castro card, we also see another umpire (Bill Welke). Umpires seem to be popping up on cards again after having been edited out or avoided for a long time. And to complete the quartet, we get a glimpse of the pitcher Jon Lester. A two-fer in terms of Cubs cameos!

Heading over to Getty Images, I searched "gyorko cubs 2017" which provided me with just 21 results. Easy Peasy.

With the full photo, there is one aspect that sticks out that eluded me with just the card. The bat is pink, as are the uniform number and undershirt sleeve on Lester. This photo was from Mother's Day weekend, when the MLB makes tweaks to uniforms and gear.

ST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 13: St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko (3) hits a home run in the bottom of the 4th inning during a MLB baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs on May 13, 2017 at the Busch Stadium in Saint Louis, MO. (Photo by Jimmy Simmons/Icon Sportwire)

According to the caption, this was on May 13th, the Saturday before Mother's Day. And unfortunately, it says the photo shows a Gyorko home run. There's no final score so let's head over to Baseball-Reference for the boxscore.

Well, that's not optimal.

According the BaseballReference chart, Gyorko's home run was the #2 play influencing win expectancy, increasing the Cardinals chances of winning by 13%.

Up until this home run, the game was tied 1-1. And interestingly, both runs were driven in by the starting pitchers (plays 3 & 4). The Cardinals would tack on three more to make it 5-1 before Ian Happ, who was making his MLB debut, homered in the 8th (the 5th play). It was his first Major League hit, though he was on base three of his four plate appearances.

I couldn't figure out how to embed the video but here is a link to the Gyorko home run.

And here's one to the Ian Happ home run.

As for the top play, here's another interesting video from this game, a slide intereference call against Happ on a double play ball. That's one of those plays where you have to hate the rule, not the umpires but it sure was a rally killer.

After watching that last video, I clearly remember watching that game live on TV for Happ's debut but nothing about the Gyorko home run.