LOS ANGELES — Throughout Chadwick Tromp’s baseball career, he’s heard fans scream his name, probably more than any other player of his stature. The Atlanta Braves backup catcher has long understood what the name “Tromp” on the back of his jersey means. He’s just one seductive vowel away from the polarizing former US president’s name.
The cheers and jeers have not subsided yet,This year I started listening to new songs. Tromp, who is Aruba and says he has no interest in American politics, was given jersey number 45 instead of his previous number 48. Donald Trump, of course, was the 45th president. Now, fans often shout out “Tremlock 45” in a way they never did with “Trempe 48.”
It wasn’t until Tromp was asked about the change in this article that he said he even understood why it was changed this season.
“They always shout ‘Tromp 45,’ but I never put two and two together,” Tromp said last week. “…I just thought, ‘Chadwick Tromp, No. 45.'”
Tromp, 29, is in his fifth year in the major leagues and has been playing professionally in the United States since 2013. He spent two seasons with the San Francisco Giants before spending three years with Atlanta. His playing time in the majors was minimal, with only 53 games and 136 at-bats. Tromp was called up on March 30, but he will likely be sent down again when catcher Sean Murphy returns from the disabled list in a few weeks.
The question of how he came to wear number 45 remains a mystery. Tromp said he asked Braves clubhouse director Calvin Minassian during the offseason to change his jersey number. He wanted No. 14 – he wore numbers 14 and 60 during his career – but it became unavailable when Adam Duvall re-signed with the Braves. Tromp was given a 45, but he did not choose it himself.
When asked about what led to his selection, Minassian declined to comment, saying it was not a story. A Braves spokesperson also declined to comment.
“Ever since I’ve been playing baseball, when I was with the Giants, everywhere I was, they’d say, ‘Tromp!'” Tromp said. I know it’s because he was president. ”
When MLB jersey numberer tweeted his number change, the post went viral. Like everything else related to Trump, it divided respondents across ideological lines.
One user wrote: “During the biggest eye roll ever, your eyes may be permanently stuck to the back of your head.”
“Let’s make Atlanta great again,” one post read.
The right-wing sports magazine Outkick published an article with the headline, “Braves’ Chadwick Tromp is on track to sell more jerseys than any backup catcher ever.”
Tromp’s No. 45 jersey is available on the website of Fanatics, an official partner of MLB. There is at least one independent team store that sells Tromp 45 shirts. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment regarding sales of this year’s Tromp jerseys.
Tromp signs autographs for fans earlier this season. (David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Braves are in a unique geographical position in baseball. In many ways, they are the team of the South. Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, both North and South Carolina, southern Virginia, and large swaths of Florida could all be considered home to the Braves. And nearly all of these places will be considered political strongholds for the former president, who won all of these states in 2020, although he notably lost Georgia.
“There are tens of millions of people who hate Donald Trump. There are tens of millions of Americans who love him,” said former George H.W. Bush speechwriter and current said Kurt Smith, presidential and baseball historian and professor at the University of Rochester. “So I think it’s pretty dangerous for a player to steal Trump’s number. It’s inviting applause. It’s definitely inviting cat meows.”
Tromp is not the first player to bear a president’s last name and wear a jersey number that corresponds to that president’s term, even if it was unintentional. He has Ben Ford, who pitched in an unremarkable 19 games as a reliever with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004. Ford was wearing number 38. Gerald Ford was the 38th president.
He said he chose the number himself, but did so without knowing its historical significance or connection to the president.
“My parents’ names are actually Gerald Ford and Betty Ford,” Ben said of the similarities between his family and the former president and first lady. “I’ve always been told that since I was little. I never thought I’d do something like that.”
UL Washington wore number 1 at the 1985 Expos. Buster Adams, who played in the 1940s, wore numbers 2 and 6 during his career. John Adams was the second president, and John Quincy Adams was the sixth president. Two players named Jackson wore number 7. Four players named Taylor wore number 12. Six Johnson players wore number 17 and another 10 wore number 36. Three Wilson players wore No. 28. One, Ike and Dwight, both had first names. Number 34. Reggie Cleveland specifically wore number 22, even though he didn’t wear number 24.
There are other close calls. The Washington Senators had an infielder named John Kennedy, who wore jersey number 34 in 1962 and number 36 in 1963, and whose birthday is May 29th with the 35th president, John F. Kennedy. Ta. There was also John Fitzgerald, who wore No. 35 in his one major league appearance in 1958.
And then there’s No. 41 Guy Bush, who played for the Cubs in the 1920s and ’30s. He died in 1985, four years before George H.W. Bush became the 41st president of the United States. In either case, this appears to be a coincidence, and Smith doesn’t think there will be a sudden spike in matches between presidential names and jersey numbers.
“If you want to honor John F. Kennedy at 35 or Ronald Reagan at 40, that’s going to be received more favorably,” Smith said. “But we have become a very polarized and hateful society in many ways. I don’t know if this trend will accelerate.”
Tromp played for the Netherlands in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. (Yihua Chen/AP)
It certainly seems unlikely. Tromp is in a unique position. And as Smith pointed out, Trump’s association with the number 45 is even closer than that with most presidents. That’s both the fault of Mr. Trump and the merchandising done on his behalf, and of his opponents who simply call him the word “no.” 45. Don’t speak your name into the air.
Trump is running for president again in 2024. If Trump wins, Tromp won’t have a chance to get a corresponding jersey number again, at least not as long as he remains in Atlanta. Tom Glavine’s jersey number 47 has been retired by the Braves.
To Tromp, none of that really matters. It wasn’t his choice from the beginning. And it’s unclear how aggressive the decision was to give him 45 points in the first place. He is happy with this number and has no plans to change it.
“I mean, I like the numbers,” Tromp said. “That’s a good number. I like 45.”
(Top photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
