When white smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel on Could 8, signaling the election of the primary United States-born pope, some Chicagoans didn’t simply have a good time the ecclesiastical milestone—they obtained busy fact-checking his baseball allegiances.
Preliminary rumors instructed that Robert Prevost—previously recognized on the South Aspect as “Father Bob,” and now as Pope Leo XIV—is perhaps a Cubs fan. Photographic proof on the contrary has since surfaced: A now-viral screenshot from Sport 1 of the 2005 World Sequence confirmed the now-pope in White Sox gear, sitting alongside his longtime pal Ed Schmit, a lifelong Sox fan and season-ticket holder, in response to the Chicago Tribune.
The picture was captured through the prime of the ninth inning, simply earlier than Bobby Jenks closed out a 5–3 win towards the Astros. Leo, Schmit, and Schmit’s son and grandson, are seen from their seats close to Part 140. The White Sox would go on to brush the sequence.
Almost 20 years later, that second—and the unlikely papal cameo—was immortalized with a brand new mural at Fee Discipline. Situated down the third-base line on the concourse wall close to Part 140, the paintings options Pope Leo XIV in his regalia, fingers raised in a gesture that might be prayer, blessing, or simply divine fandom. Above him: that very screenshot from the 2005 Fox broadcast.
However the mural is each a nod to the 2005 occasion, and a tribute to Ed Schmit, who died of pancreatic most cancers in 2020. In his closing months, Schmit advised Leo—then a bishop in Peru—that he was sure “Father Bob” would grow to be someday. “I may not be right here to see it, however I’ll positively be trying down,” his daughter Heidi recalled.
Heidi was among the many dozen of Schmit’s relations on the mural unveiling, lots of whom nonetheless maintain these season tickets. “We have now proof,” mentioned Ed Schmit IV, of the pope’s baseball allegiance. “He was at Sport 1 of the World Sequence, and everybody is aware of now.”
The White Sox, for his or her half, have embraced their hometown Supreme Pontiff. The workforce’s chief advertising officer, Brooks Boyer, mentioned the pope now has an open invitation to return to the ballpark—no advance discover vital. “He has an open invite to throw out a primary pitch,” Boyer advised MLB.com. “Heck, perhaps we’ll let him get an at-bat.”
