Pope Leo XIV, the new Supreme Pontiff previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, is the first American pope. Not only that—the Chicago native is a baseball fan. His brother John quickly squashed Cubs-fan rumors, telling WGN the new pope is a White Sox backer.
Then, the obtained a photo of the future Pope Leo XIV at the 2005 World Series between the White Sox and the Houston Astros. And now, even better—he made the Fox broadcast as he attended Game 1 of the '05 Fall Classic. You can see the clip here, which surfaced Friday thanks to some digging by Joe Binder of :
And here's the photo of Leo which surfaced Thursday. He's shown on the far left talking on a cell phone in the background of a picture of Ed Schmit—a close friend of Leo's who died in 2020—and his grandson.
In Leo's presence at the Series, the White Sox won Game 1 5–3 over the Astros before they claimed the title in a four-game sweep as right fielder Jermaine Dye was named World Series MVP. The championship was the White Sox's first in 88 years and their only World Series win since. Maybe a turnaround is in the franchise's future with their new most famous fan's rise to the papacy.
The pope was born in 1955 and raised in Dolton, Ill., just south of the Chicago city limits.