If you thought Phillies‘ catcher J.T. Realmuto’s name was just those letters, or even Jacob Tyler, as his Wikipedia page suggests, you thought wrong.
The baseball world was absolutely rocked today by the news that Realmuto’s initials actually stand for Jackin’ Taters.
With the Padres leading the Phillies 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth on Sunday, Realmuto stepped to the plate and delivered a solo shot to the right-field stands. The Phillies then took the opportunity to announce their catcher’s real name:
Jackin' Taters Realmuto. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/oXhvQk47kd
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 4, 2021
A bomb hit, and a truth bomb dropped.
The Phillies need more from Realmuto
This was Realmuto’s eighth home run of the season, the 103rd of his career. He’s now hitting .263 with 31 RBI and four stolen bases in 64 games. In 2020, he hit 11 home runs and drove in 32 RBI in 47 games. Since his debut with the Marlins in 2014, he’s a career .276 hitter over 796 games, who is slashing .196/.237/.393 over his last 15 games.
Simply put: the Phillies need more from the former Gold Glover and two-time Silver Slugger, who will likely be named a reserve on the NL All-Star team on Sunday, his third time going to the game.
His struggles this season aside, as far as JT’s in pop culture and history go, Realmuto has to have the best name. Forget the Justins (Timberlake, Theroux, Trudeau), John Travolta, James Taylor, even Jayson Tatum. 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, probably wished he could’ve been President Jackin’ Taters instead.
Realmuto’s Twitter bio might say otherwise, but the cat’s out of the bag.