In Chicago, a metropolis the place baseball allegiance has no center floor, one of many first questions folks requested was whether or not the Chicago-born pope cheered for the White Sox or the Cubs.
The strains dividing Cubs and Sox followers are usually not at all times clear. Usually talking, North Siders root for the Cubs, since Wrigley Subject is on their facet of the town. South Siders are often loyal to the Sox, who play at Price Subject in Bridgeport, on the South Facet. Suburbanites are likely to comply with the identical geographical divisions, however are generally thought-about a grey space.
Followers from either side appeared to initially declare the brand new pope as their very own. A spokeswoman for the Cubs first mentioned that she couldn’t verify whether or not he was a fan, and issued a press release from Tom Ricketts, the chief chairman of the Cubs, assuring the brand new pope that he can be welcomed at Wrigley Subject.
“Not solely would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Subject, he may sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Sport’ or, since three of his predecessors visited Yankee Stadium, together with Pope Paul VI who delivered the 1965 ‘Sermon on the Mound,’ we might invite the pontiff to do the identical on the Pleasant Confines,” Mr. Ricketts mentioned.
By afternoon, the marquee at Wrigley Subject declared that the brand new pope was a Cubs fan.
However in suburban Chicago, the pope’s brother John Prevost set the file straight to WGN, a tv station that for many years broadcast Cubs video games and helped create a fan base far past Chicago.
“He was by no means, ever a Cubs fan,” Mr. Prevost mentioned. “So I don’t know the place that got here from. He was at all times a Sox fan.”
