Baseball's multilingual magic: The Netherlands' polyglot team at the World Baseball Classic
The Netherlands' team at the World Baseball Classic is a diverse and multilingual group, with players from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and the United States. Among them is Chadwick Tromp, a 11-year-old catcher who speaks Papiamento, English, Spanish, and Dutch. Being quadrilingual is common in the ABC islands, but it becomes even more significant when these players come together for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
"It's very special to communicate with your teammates because you feel like you're home, speaking a language that nobody else understands: Papiamento," says Tromp. "Dutch is not super common either, so you kind of feel like you're home because you can relate to each other. All those guys also speak multiple languages."
The team's multilingualism is a unique asset in a sport that requires regular communication between players from different backgrounds. Xander Bogaerts, Kenley Jansen, Didi Gregorius, Ozzie Albies, Jurickson Profar, and Ceddanne Rafaela are all part of this polyglot team, and they all speak Papiamento, English, Dutch, and Spanish.
"It makes you able to do more stuff," Bogaerts told MLB.com. "Just reading stuff, like off the scoreboard, you've got to do it in all these languages. But it's fun, man. Like, they know they can come up to you or you can go up to them and have a conversation, as opposed to needing someone else [like an interpreter] to do that."
During gameplay, English is the primary language used for communication, but there are exceptions. Tromp, for instance, speaks Dutch when he wants to communicate with his pitcher in the heat of the moment without the other team understanding. This multilingualism is crucial for building camaraderie and understanding among players from different cultures.
Veteran leaders like Bogaerts and Gregorius play a vital role in fostering camaraderie through their language skills. Gregorius effortlessly switches between languages, speaking English to Americans, Papiamento to Curaçao players, Spanish to Spanish speakers, and Dutch to Dutch players. This ability to communicate in multiple languages makes him relatable to everyone on the team.
The team's preparation is also essential, especially for pitcher-catcher communication. Tromp, as the Netherlands' primary backstop, works with pitchers from all four countries and understands each pitcher's scouting report. This familiarity was crucial for Shairon Martis, a Curaçaoan right-hander who threw the first no-hitter in Classic history in 2006.
The team's relationships extend beyond the field and the clubhouse. They bond through playing games and sharing meals. During the Classic, they have a gaming room where they hang out and play PlayStation and FIFA. They also go out to dinner with teammates, friends, and families, often with the well-paid big leaguers picking up the tab.
"Hanging out like that also makes our team great because everybody's so locked in on each other," says Tromp. The team's close-knit community is what makes being a part of the Netherlands team so meaningful. The Classic provides an opportunity to play alongside teammates with whom they have shared a language, country, and heritage but rarely a baseball field or jersey.
"It's just fun to have those experiences," Bogaerts told MLB.com. "And, you know, you can talk about your country a little bit, your childhood, and stuff like that in your own language. I remember my first couple of Classics, and we played against each other growing up, and now the WBC is probably the only time we get to play with each other."
Even for those who didn't grow up together, the Netherlands' unique clubhouse facilitates deeper camaraderie. The ability to express oneself in multiple languages helps players understand each other's cultures better, fostering acceptance and understanding among team members.
"Because everybody has at least one language in common, you can talk with everybody. You don't group up," says Fransen. "And in a clubhouse with at least four different languages being spoken, there's one language that transcends them all: the game of baseball."
AJ Cassavell, a Padres beat reporter, contributed to this story.
