Holy sellout! White Sox fans flock to ‘Pope Hat’ night honoring Illinois native Pope Leo XIV

CHICAGO — It’s not every day you see baseball fans in religious vestments drinking beer and eating hot dogs, but at Rate Field on Tuesday, the holy and the profane met to celebrate the Chicago White Sox’s No. 1 fan at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV.

The Sox’s long-awaited “Pope Hat” promotion took place on a hot, humid night in Chicago, as the White Sox faced the Cincinnati Reds and the team gave away almost 40,000 mitre hats emblazoned with its logo and lappets on the back.

The White Sox sold out the ballpark (announced attendance: 38,113), and the hats were going for around $70 on eBay during the game, which was more than the going rate for tickets on the secondary market ahead of first pitch.

Ever since Robert Prevost, a diehard White Sox fan from south suburban Dolton, Ill., was elected to serve as the leader of the Catholic Church last year, the team hasn’t been shy about hyping the connection. Chicago put up a mural in the ballpark, held a Mass there and has sent more emissaries bearing gifts to the Vatican than some small countries.

“Anytime we can celebrate the Pope and his fandom of the White Sox is something we’ll lean into,” Chicago manager Will Venable said.

White Sox fans pose in their “Pope Hats” before Tuesday’s game against the Reds. (Jon Greenberg / The Athletic)

The hat giveaway was the brainchild of White Sox marketing executive Mike Downey. It quickly grew in size and scope after its initial announcement in early April.

“He’s the one who really championed this hat concept,” White Sox CMO Brooks Boyer said of Downey. “It started as a 2,500 special ticket promo giveaway. And then as they went on sale, they went right away, and he came in and said, ‘I think I can get the vendor to do 500 more.’ So we were going to go to 3,000. Once those went, he came in and said, ‘We’ve got to go to 40,000.’ The only anxiety was can we get 40,000 here by the time of this day. So as soon as we figured out we could, it’s been a lot of fun to be part of.”

How big was this moment? Well, Boyer had to address reporters in front of a bank of microphones in the dugout after Venable.

The installation of the first American Pope last spring hasn’t gotten old in Chicago, and on Tuesday, the mood around the ballpark was joyful. There were more than enough hats to go around, and many fans rocked them on a muggy night. Some dressed up in costumes and even more wore bootleg “Chicago Pope” T-shirts. The team put up “Leo Knows” signs about White Sox players, a twist on the famous “Bo Knows” Nike campaign.

Pope Leo was everywhere at the White Sox game. (Jon Greenberg / The Athletic)

“Obviously we want to be respectful of the position and there was a lot of chatter about a pope bobblehead and things like that, and we decided not to pursue something along that lines,” Boyer said. “But the fact that the Pope is an identified White Sox fan, we’re certainly proud of it. We put the mural up where he was sitting in the World Series. It is certainly a point of pride for the Chicago White Sox and White Sox fans, and we’re not going to run from it.”

Because so many people bring him gifts, Pope Leo has more Chicago sports memorabilia than a diehard Grabowski with a man cave. He’s certainly the first Pope to be photographed wearing the same black Sox hat that rappers made famous in the 1990s. Did he know this promotion was going on? How could he not?

“There have certainly been people that have talked to him that claim that he’s following everything that’s going on with the White Sox,” Boyer said. “Pope Leo, if you’re watching, I hope he knows about it. Obviously we want this to be something that’s very respectful to him and connect him with some of his roots.”

The superfans of Section 108 donned their hats during the game. (Jon Greenberg / The Athletic)

Former White Sox pitcher Donn “The Pope” Pall was a special guest Tuesday night, and Sister Mary Jo Sobieck, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield who went viral for her first pitch in 2018, made a return appearance. Father Tom Hurley and Pat McGann, comedian and White Sox fan, led a blessing after the fifth inning. The team raised money for the Midwest Augustinians, which was Prevost’s order in Chicago.

So what would Pope Leo think about all of this?

“I think he’d enjoy it,” Sobieck said. “I think he would say it’s bringing a lot of people out. He’s all about community and having people share things. You get people together, and you don’t know where it leads. It leads to friendship, depth of conversation and all of that. I think he’d be game.”

If he has been following along from Vatican City, Pope Leo has to be enjoying this White Sox season. Chicago has been in first place (or within a game) in the American League Central since early June, a far cry from the last three seasons, when the Sox were one of the worst teams in baseball. In 2024, of course, they set a modern-day baseball record with 121 losses. Now, the Sox (61-57) could make the playoffs and even get a bye out of the wild-card round.

Chicago’s mascot, Southpaw, also took part in the celebration of Pope Leo on Tuesday night. (Melissa Tamez / Associated Press)

Has Pope Leo pulled some favors?

“I’ve been asked that question quite a bit, is there any sort of divine intervention going on with this team this year, and I just said we accept,” Boyer said.

While the Sox took an early four-run lead, any blessings from above were washed away by a bullpen meltdown in the eighth inning. The White Sox lost to the Reds, 5-4, in 10 innings. Even a Pope’s goodwill can only go so far. In this case, perhaps, the Sox could’ve used the spirit and the right arm of the other Pope, Pall, a reliever who had a 3.45 ERA in six years with Chicago.