Hey Chicago, whatta ya say. The city’s got a pope today.
But who is Chicago-native Pope Leo XIV’s preferred baseball team? That depends on who you believe — though his brother weighed in in an post that has been heavily shared online.
John Prevost, the older brother of Robert Prevost who was named the first American-born Catholic leader ever, seemed to set the record straight in an interview with WGN.
“He was never, ever a Cubs fan. So I don’t know where that came from,” Prevost said. “He’s a [White] Sox fan.”
‘He’s a Cubs Fan’
To answer Prevost’s question, the Cubs social media department claimed Robert as a Northsider shortly after he was identified as the 267th pope in the history of Catholicism.
https://x.com/Cubs/status/1920573012333490433
The post may have caused mixed emotions across Chicagoland, and confusion in the Prevost household. But Cubs fandom does run in the Prevost household, specifically on his mom’s side.
The fact Robert became a White Sox fan is a separation from both of his parents’ rooting interest. WGN reported that both of his parents were National League fans, since his Cubs-fan mom spent her life with his father, who supported the St. Louis Cardinals.
Luckily, the White Sox set the record straight on social media — complete with John’s WGN interview.
https://x.com/whitesox/status/1920605400484712617
Divine Intervention Needed
The White Sox may have the supreme human authority cheering for them, but both they and the Cubs could use the assistance.
Both the Cubs and White Sox have been beset by curses and have the same number of World Series championships over the past century (1).
The Cubs have the more robust fan fan base, but that is in large part due to their longtime national presence on WGN and status as loveable losers. The Cubs went 108 years between World Series before they finally snapped that drought with a championship in 2016.
The White Sox were first to snap their lengthy drought, of 88 years in 2005 with a sweep of the Astros. The hometown newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, unearthed a photo of Prevost at a World Series game in the South Side.
https://x.com/michaelschwab13/status/1920656687045685562
Still, the Sox’s title was 20 years ago, and the Astros have since switched from the NL to the American League — and still won two World Series and played in four in that span. Plus, the White Sox haven’t even won a postseason series — and have only three playoff wins — since their one-off run to the World Series.
https://x.com/jayhaykid/status/1920668057019601159
Maybe Prevost can put in a call to the big man upstairs, since the White Sox posted the worst record in the history of baseball, 41-121, just last year and are on pace to win just 42 games this season based on their league-worst .263 winning percentage.
The Cubs are in first place and have scored the most runs in baseball as of May 9. Still, that the White Sox scored a major win over their intra-city rival, in terms of the pope’s rooting interest, is shocking.
But those online had similar jokes to make.
https://x.com/SSBehavior/status/1920617438984495371
https://x.com/FoolishBB/status/1920665374938263561
https://x.com/cmclymer/status/1920594178532081847
https://x.com/OVTweetmarck/status/1920620701163127202
Pope Leo XIV’s Brother Reveals His True Chicago Baseball Fandom