With Pope Leo XIV on their side, the Chicago White Sox invoked their most prominent fan Tuesday night via a pope hat giveaway for a home game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The giveaway energized the home fans and became a part of the team’s home run celbrations. Unfortunately for the White Sox, they could not muster a win to honor Pope Leo in a 5-4 loss in 10 innings.
The pope hats were hard to miss from moment the doors at Rate Field opened to the public. Fans poured into the concourse proudly sporting the roughly 40,000 pope hats that were given away to the sellout crowd.
Some fans dressed for the occasion as they posed for pictures on the concourse.
When it was time for the first pitch, the Sox stuck with the theme.
Notable White Sox fan Sister Mary Joe Sobieck of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield took the mound with some flash and threw a breaking ball over the plate to get the festivities underway.
It wasn’t her first rodeo. Sister Mary Jo made headlines in 2019 with another strong first pitch for the White Sox.
Once the game was underway, the pope hats made their way to the White Sox dugout and were a featured prop in Brenton Doyle’s first-inning home run that gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead.
Organist Nancy Faust, meanwhile, rocked pope gear from behind the keys.
Alas, the good times didn’t translate to a win at the end for the home team. The Reds rallied from a 4-0 fourth inning deficit to force extra innings, and an Elly De La Cruz sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th was enough to secure a Cincinnati win.
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