Pope Leo the White Sox Fan: something to celebrate for the south side of Chicago

Stanley Brown was up late on Thursday, and claimed all the news about the new pope, Leo XIV, including revelations that he grew up as a baseball fan of Chicago White Sox. As soon as Mr. Brown that heard, he knew something very important.

“If he is a White Sox fan, he can identify with suffering,” said Mr. Brown, 72, a village manager in Dolton, Illinois, the city where the pope grew up. “But it doesn’t matter how bad they are, we remain loyal as SOX fans. That’s not something you just give up.”

Chicago has long been divided between his two baseball teams, the White Sox on the south side and the Cubs in the North. Both are more known for losses than winning their eternal histories. But the Northiders usually attracted more attention than the cuddly, sweet Cubbies, with their boutique stadium, afternoon competitions, famous representation of “Take me out to the ball game” and the manual scoreboard on Wigley Field.

The White Sox, which plays in a less charming stadium in a grimy part of the city, is far from Chic. But there is an unmistakable pride of their fans, especially now.

The Cubs may have won the World Series more recently, in 2016, and can be considered a more fashionable brand. But the white Sox has the pope.

“That tells you that he is a real person,” said Courtney White, an athletic coordinator for youth sports in Dolton. “I mean, he comes from Dolton and he is a white so -fan. You can’t be real more than that.”

Being a white SOX fan is not easy. It requires dedication, loyalty, faith and above all, forgiveness. It almost sounds like an internship for a job at the Vatican.

Pope Leo was born Robert Francis Prevost and grew up in a modest single-family home in 212 141st place in Dolton, a city in the middle and workers’ city across the southern border of Chicago. As soon as he was called pope and identified as a Chicagoan on Thursday, was one of the first things that people wanted to know here, SOX of Cubs?

In the first instance, rumors circulated that he was a Cubs fan. But his brother John Prevost explained to WGN in Chicago that although the family of their mother was from the north side and loyal to the Cubs, cherished, The Pope preferred the white SOX (Their father was a fans of cardinals, appropriate enough for the father of a prelate).

His white SOX vouchers were validated by Friday evening. While he lived in Rome in 2005, he managed to reach Game 1 of the World Series in Chicago. He even Spotted in the stands during the national television broadcast. The White Sox won the game, 5-3, and then started sweeping the Houston Astros for their first World Series title since 1917.

Pope Leo was born in 1955, in the midst of a series of relatively success for the White Sox. Weeks after he turned 4, they made the World Series and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were decent in the coming years, but could only return to the World Series in 2005.

Robert Prevost was not particularly interested in sports, according to his friend, James Priestley, 69, a lawyer from Naperville, Illinois, who followed both a secondary school in Michigan and the university in Villanova with the Pope. Bob, such as Mr. Priestley knew him, was more passionate about academics, philosophy and spiritual things than those stable in 1961 (it was Luis Aparicio of the White Sox).

“I would say there really is no sports corner here,” said Mr. Priestley. “He was always such a sweet, caring, intellectual man, exactly the kind of person you hope would be pope. But he didn’t speak much about sport, I remember that. If you asked him about the Catholic doctrine or something, he could talk about it all day.”

When they go to the St. Augustine Seminary High School near Holland, Mich. Go to a boarding school for boys, all students had to participate in sports. Mr. Priestley remembered that the Pope from the obligation participated instead of passion. He also remembered an annual party among their pear group to watch a football match in Chicago Bears, and the pope was at least one attended.

Mr. Priestley, on the other hand, is a dedicated white SOX supporter, who just saw his team losing four consecutive games this week, on typical sloppy fashion. This is an organization that set a record for most losses last season – 121. The White Sox today is in a well -known place, the last place in the American League Central. The Cubs are in the first place in National League Central.

“The tradition says that the Cubs fans are snooty and soft and the White Sox fans are more difficult,” said Mr. Priestley. “I don’t really buy it. But I can tell you that there are some Cubs fans in the suburbs of Southland. I don’t think there are too many White Sox fans in the North.”

On Friday, the White Sox played their first home game since the pope’s elections. Ann Allie, 46, a doctor from Chicago, said she was worried when she first heard that the Pope was a Cubs fan.

“I was relieved when I heard he loves the White Sox,” she said. “It’s really cool, and it’s logical.”

Art Ortiz, a web designer at the game with his family, is a rare example of a White SOX fan that is originally from the north side. But he was brought to a game as a child in the 1980s and fell in love. He hoped that the new pope could help the fortune of his club.

“It’s a blessing,” he said. “And we need it.”

About 20 minutes south of the stadium, Dolton also has a rich baseball tradition. One street is named after Lou Boudreau, the Hall of Fame player for Cleveland, who grew up in nearby Harvey, Ill. The Dolton Boys was a small league match for many years, until fewer and fewer children participated. Mr White, the athletic coordinator, played through high school and was coached by Mr. Brown, the village manager. They said they negotiated with the non -profit de Players Alliance To revitalize baseball in the city.

“Baseball used to be everything until they rolled out that basketball,” said Mr. Brown while he looked over one of the municipal fields where he both his son and Mr. White coached. “Now it’s hard to let children play.”

A few blocks away, for the Pope’s youth center, several people came to visit on Friday. Some, such as Ralph Pizza, 65, a retired architect, grew on a few blocks away on 146th St., and said he and most of his friends were White Sox fans. But he also knew some Cubs fans there.

John Crowley, a retired electrician, is 68 and from the north side. He roots for the Cubs, but dared to make the journey to the south. He is also a Catholic and wanted to see the house where the new pope grew up. He is very happy that Pope Leo comes from the Chicago area, but not much that he is a white SOX fan. He promised not to hold it against him.

“It’s ok,” said Mr. Crowley. “They can use the help.”