“The Pope hats are going bonkers”
That’s what a senior promotions and marketing man for the Chicago White Sox told his boss about surging demand for a knock off of the miter Pope Leo XIV wears. So, instead of giving away a few thousand “Pope hats” in honor of the team’s most famous fan, they’ll give one to everyone who attends Tuesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. All 40,000 fans.
Bishop Robert Prevost, head of the Augustinian Order, attended a White Sox game in October 2005. They weren’t giving anything away. It was Game One of the 2005 World Series, which the Sox swept in four games over the Houston Astros. “Bob from the South Side” was anointed Pope on May 8, 2025. On June 11 he wore a White Sox cap during the weekly Papal appearance in St. Peter’s Square. It’s not hard to imagine how excited fans of the White Sox must have been.
Why the White Sox?
Bob Prevost was born in a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago called Bronzeville. Ida B. Wells and Sam Cooke were from there too. Growing up a White Sox fan came with the territory. He doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in him, but being from that part of Chicago, he’s what you might call Irish-adjacent. The South Side has always been the most Irish Catholic section of Chicago. These lyrcs are from a song written about the South Sde:
Our parents came from Mayo, from Cork and Donegal. We come from Sabina's, St. Kilian and St. Gall, Leo, Visitation, Little Flower and the rest. The South Side parishes are mighty-they're the best!
We sing the songs our fathers sang when they were growing up Rebel songs of Erin's Isle in South Side Irish Pubs and when it comes to baseball-we have two favorite clubs The Go-Go White Sox... and whoever plays the Cubs!
Why Pope hats?
Because the Pope never returned calls from the White Sox marketing people asking for permission to give away Pope Leo Bobbleheads. Prototypes were ordered last May then sent to the Vatican for approval. None came. Father Tom McCarthy, an Augustinian also rasied on the South Side, delivered the bad news, “I did get a response, and they just said that they were not interested. I think they may think a bobblehead is disrespectful. But in the United States, I think people understand a bobblehead can be very complimentary,” Father McCarthy said.
Plan B was Pope hats. Or miters as they are known. The Sox marketing crew didn’t eek permission from the Vatican but an unofficial adviser, Father Tom Hurley, gave his blessing.
As of Sunday morning, 8 August, tickets for the game Tuesday in the nosebleed seats are going for $75 and up. Also as of Sunday at seven a.m., the Chicago White Sox are in first place in the American League Central with a three-game lead. In 2024 the Sox lost 121 games, a modern-era record. With a playoff run underway, It doesn’t hurt to have the 266th successor to Saint Peter as a lifelong supporter.
Further reading
“The Pope hat is going bonkers” quote comes from this NY Times article. Subscription is required.
Who thought you would ever see Pope Leo and NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) in the same magazine story. Here it is.
Major League Baseball got in on the fun.