Pope Leo Hat Giveaway Turns White Sox Game Into the Church of Baseball

CHICAGO (RNS) — On a hot August night on the South Side of Chicago, Rate Field, home of the White Sox, turned into a church of baseball, filled to capacity with true believers who sang, passed the peace, cheered on a celebrity nun and, of course, wore their pope hats.

Those hats, emblazoned with the Sox logo, were given to every fan who entered the park on Tuesday (Aug. 11). It was, according to team officials, the biggest promotional giveaway in White Sox history, with more than 40,000 pope hats given away. The night was a testimony to the resurgent White Sox, who appear to be playoff-bound after three years of losing 100 games a season, as well as to the appeal of Pope Leo XIV, a longtime fan of the team and Chicago native.

“It doesn’t matter your religion or your denomination,” said Brooks Boyer, chief revenue and marketing officer for the White Sox. “Everyone respects the pope. For us, it’s obviously fun that he is a White Sox fan.”

As soon as the gate opened, the park was flooded with fans, young and old, some with jerseys with the pope’s name on the back, many already wearing their pope hats. They stood in line for hot dogs or beers, where some greeted Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, who was grabbing a hot dog before throwing out the first pitch.

Jaime Garcia and his wife were decked out in Sox garb and their new pope hats. Garcia, who is from the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side, grew up both Catholic and a Sox fan. He got off work early to get to the game.

“Got to get the hat,” he said. “Got to represent.”

He said that, as a fellow Southsider, the pope is someone he can relate to. Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost and raised in nearby Dolton, loves the Sox and came from a working-class family, just like many of his fans, Garcia said.

“That’s what the Southside is,” he said. “Hardworking families. He’s got them roots.”

Dick and Marty Murphy, a Catholic couple from Northbrook, Illinois, made the trek from the city’s northern suburbs. He has been a fan of the Sox since boyhood, while she married into Sox fanhood. He has been to a few games this year, but it had been a while for her. On Tuesday, they were there because of the pope, who Marty described as a really kind man.

“It was all Pope Leo,” Marty said. “And the hat.”

Her husband agreed. “It’s very unique,” he said, pointing to his miter-shaped hat emblazoned with a Sox logo. “I wanted to be one of 40,000 people walking around Chicago with this thing on their head.”

Along with the pope hat giveaway, the night featured a fifth-inning passing of the peace, during which fans greeted one another, modeled after a ritual from a Catholic Mass. A group of Catholic school kids, whose mock conclave last year made national headlines, greeted players as they took the field. Legendary organist Nancy Faust provided the soundtrack, with songs like Billy Joel’s “Keeping the Faith,” Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” and, of course, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.’”

Sister Sobieck delighted fans by bouncing a baseball on her bicep before firing the ball home for the opening pitch. Before her star turn, she posed for selfies and chatted with fans. She said that she loved that so many people had turned out for the pope hat night. It was a sign that the pope can bring people together.

A few people asked her whether the pope giveaway hat, modeled after the pope’s miter, was irreverent.

“Not at all,” she said. “It’s just good fun. You know, baseball unites. The church unites. You put two good things together, and it’s perfect.”

Even some of the players are fans of the pope.

Drew Romo, a catcher who joined the White Sox in the off-season, wasn’t with the team when Leo was elected pope last year.

“Then when I went to the White Sox, that’s when I was like, it’s so cool — I’m going to the pope’s team,” he told RNS during an interview in the Sox dugout before the game. “The pope’s going to be cheering me on.”

Romo, who is Catholic, had a viral moment earlier this season. A teammate was wearing a microphone for a local broadcast when Romo called out for Pope Leo to “say a quick prayer” that Jacob Gonzalez, then a shortstop for the Sox, would hit a home run.

Not long after, Gonzalez did just that.

White Sox Manager Will Venable said before the game that he was excited that the stands would be filled with pope fans. He hoped they brought a little luck along.

“Any time we get to celebrate the pope and his fandom of the White Sox, that is something that we’ll lean into,” he said during a pregame scrum with reporters. “Hopefully, that creates some good favor for us tonight.”

Romo, who is active with Catholic Athletes for Christ, said that his faith keeps him grounded. While he is devoted to the game, it’s not all there is to life, he noted. And even the best players fail most of the time at the plate, where getting a hit three out of every 10 times can make you a star.

“Baseball is a game of failure,” he said. “I think for us baseball players, remembering that Jesus is at the center and remembering that our faith is, first and foremost, not baseball, that’s very helpful.”

The idea for a pope-related giveaway emerged in May 2025, when Leo was elected. Mike Downey, the team’s director of marketing, said he was at lunch when he first heard the news that then-Cardinal Prevost, an American cleric from Chicago, was elected pope. At first, the Cubs claimed Pope Leo, only to later learn that not only was Leo a lifelong White Sox fan, but that he’d been in the stands during the team’s run to a World Series championship in 2005.

“Our heads started spinning here — how do we celebrate this?” Downey said. “How do we honor this — it’s such a cool historic thing that’s now descended upon 35th and Shields.”

The team started by putting up a plaque on the seat where the pope sat during the World Series, added a pope-themed mural, and hosted a Mass last year in Leo’s honor, organized by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

A bobblehead — a staple of major giveaways — didn’t seem quite right. Instead, they were inspired by a photo of Leo in his papal robes and wearing a White Sox cap at the Vatican.

“If the pope’s wearing our hat,” Downey said, “what if our fans wore a pope hat?”

And that’s how the team’s “divine promotion” came to life, as they referred to it. The Tuesday night game between the White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds sold out.

“It’s going to be very fun, a very cool night,” he said ahead of the game — “a big Southside Catholic celebration.”

Father Tom McCarthy, a member of the same Midwest Augustinian order as Pope Leo, was grateful to the White Sox for giving fans a chance to celebrate their faith and the Sox. “I think it just gets people thinking about God, about our faith, about the church, about religion,” he said, standing on the field before the game. “And I think it’s awesome.”

The pope hat giveaway comes as the White Sox are experiencing a revival. The Sox have already won more games than last year, and the team’s record stood at 61-56 entering Tuesday, after taking two of three games from the Cleveland Guardians, their division rival. The team already passed last year’s attendance, with more than 40 games to go.

Boyer said he’s glad for the pope’s support.

“I’ve been asked that question quite a bit, ‘Is there any sort of divine intervention going on with this team this year?’” he said. “And I just said, we accept. We accept any divine intervention.”

The game itself tested the faith of fans at times. The White Sox took an early lead, thanks to a leadoff home run from center fielder Brenton Doyle and four no-hit innings from starting pitcher Sean Burke. The Reds tied the game on an RBI single by Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson. They then took the lead on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th, quieting the crowd.

In the end, even the pope could not save the Sox, at least on this night. The game ended 5-4 on a pop-up, with the tying run still on base and Cincinnati closer Emilio Pagán on the mound.

But the 40,000 fans will keep the faith. And the team will be back at it Wednesday.