Tromp 45: Braves backup gets an unexpected lesson in the politics of a number change (2024)

LOS ANGELES — Throughout Chadwick Tromp’s baseball career, he’s heard the fans shouting his name, perhaps more than other players of his stature receive. The Atlanta Braves backup catcher has long understood that comes with having the name “Tromp” resting across the back of his jersey. Just one tantalizing vowel away from the name of the polarizing former president of the United States.

While the cheers and jeers have been far from all-consuming, he started to hear a new one this year. Tromp, who is Aruban and says he doesn’t pay attention to American politics, was given jersey No. 45, switching from his old No. 48. Donald Trump, of course, was the 45th president. Now, fans often yell “Tromp 45” in a way they never did for “Tromp 48.”

It wasn’t until Tromp was asked about the number change for this article that he said he even realized why those calls had become different this season.

“They always yell ‘Tromp 45,’ but I never put two and two together,” Tromp said last week. “… I thought it was just, ‘Chadwick Tromp, number 45.’”

Tromp, 29, is in his fifth big league season and has played professionally in the United States since 2013. He’s spent three years in Atlanta after two seasons with the San Francisco Giants. His time in the majors has been sparing, with only 53 games and 136 plate appearances to his ledger. Tromp was called up on March 30, but will likely be sent back down when catcher Sean Murphy (oblique) returns from the injured list in a few weeks.

The question of exactly how he ended up with jersey number 45 remains something of a mystery. Tromp said he asked Braves clubhouse director Calvin Minasian for a number change during the offseason. He wanted No. 14 — he has worn 14 and 60 at points in his career — but that became unavailable when Adam Duvall re-signed with the Braves. Tromp was given 45, which he didn’t select himself.

Minasian declined to comment when approached about the genesis of the selection, saying it was not a story. A Braves spokesperson also declined to comment.

“Since I’ve been playing baseball, when I was with the Giants or anywhere,” Tromp said, “they say ‘Tromp!’ I know that was because he was the president.”

When MLB Jersey Numbers tweeted his number change, the post went viral. Like anything else related to Trump, it divided respondents across ideological lines.

“My eyes may get stuck in the back of my head permanently while giving this the biggest eye roll of all time,” wrote one user.

“Make Atlanta Great Again,” posted another.

The right-leaning sports outlet Outkick posted a story with this headline: “Braves’ Chadwick Tromp Is About To Sell More Jerseys Than Any Backup Catcher Ever”.

Tromp’s No. 45 jersey is available on the website of Fanatics, MLB’s official partner. There is at least one independent team store that is selling Tromp 45 shirts. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment regarding Tromp jersey sales this year.

The Braves are uniquely positioned geographically in the baseball landscape. In many ways, they are the South’s team. States like Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, both North and South Carolina, and large swaths of Florida could all be considered Braves country. And almost all of those places would be considered political strongholds for the former president, who won all those states in 2020, though he notably lost Georgia.

“There are tens of millions of people that dislike Donald Trump. There’s tens of millions of Americans who like him a great deal,” said Curt Smith, a former George H.W. Bush speech writer who is now a presidential and baseball historian, as well as a professor at the University of Rochester. “So I think that would be pretty dicey for a player to take Trump’s number. You’re inviting applause. You’re inviting, certainly, cat calls.”

Tromp is not the first player with a presidential last name to wear the jersey number corresponding with that POTUS’ term placement, however unintentionally. There’s Ben Ford, who pitched 19 unremarkable games in relief for the 2004 Milwaukee Brewers. Ford wore the No. 38; Gerald Ford was the 38th president.

He said he selected that number himself, but did so without knowing its historical significance and relation to the president.

“My parents’ names are actually Gerald and Betty Ford too,” Ben said, referring to the congruency between his family and the former president and first lady. “Ever since I was young, it’s always been talked about like that. I never even would have thought to have done that.”

U L Washington wore the No. 1 for the 1985 Expos. Buster Adams, who played in the 1940s wore, No. 2 and No. 6 in his career. John Adams was the second president and John Quincy Adams was the sixth. Two players named Jackson wore No. 7. Four players named Taylor wore No. 12. Six Johnsons wore No. 17, another 10 Johnsons wore No. 36. Three Wilsons wore 28. One Ike and one Dwight, both first names, wore the No. 34. Reggie Cleveland notably wore the No. 22, though not the No. 24.

There are other close calls. The Washington Senators had an infielder named John Kennedy, who wore No. 34 in 1962, No. 36 in 1963, and also shared a May 29 birthday with John F. Kennedy, the 35th president. There was also a John Fitzgerald who wore the No. 35 for his one big league appearance in 1958.

Then there’s No. 41 Guy Bush, who played with the Cubs in the 1920s and 30s. He died in 1985, four years before George H.W. Bush would become the 41st U.S. president. In all cases, this seems to be happenstance, and Smith doesn’t believe we’re suddenly going to see a rash of presidential name-and-number uniform congruence going forward.

“I think if you wanted to honor John F. Kennedy with 35 or Ronald Reagan with 40, that I sense would be met with greater favor,” Smith said. “But we’ve become such a polarized and hateful society in many ways. I’m not sure this is a trend that is going to acquire speed.”

That would certainly seem unlikely. Tromp is in a unique position. And as Smith noted, the association with Trump and the number 45 has an even closer association than most presidents and their numbers, both because of the merchandising done by Trump and on his behalf, and because of opponents who refer to him simply by the No. 45, rather than speak his name into the ether.

Trump is running for president again in 2024. If Trump wins, Tromp won’t have the opportunity to have a corresponding uniform number again, at least if he remains with Atlanta; Tom Glavine’s No. 47 is retired by the Braves.

For Tromp, none of it really matters. It wasn’t his choice to begin with. And it’s unclear just how proactive the decision was to give him 45 at all. He’s happy with the number, and has no plans to change it.

“I mean, I like the number,” Tromp said. “It’s a good number. I like 45.”

(Top photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

Sam Blum is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Los Angeles Angels and Major League Baseball. Before joining The Athletic, he was a sports reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Previously, he covered Auburn for AL.com and the University of Virginia for The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.