MLB Playoffs: Pope Leo XIV Sends White Sox Letter Ahead Of Wild Card Series

The Chicago White Sox got some extra encouragement from a familiar fan before their playoff opener. Ahead of their AL Wild Card Series game against the Houston Astros, the team announced that a letter from Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native and White Sox fan, arrived at Rate Field on Tuesday. “Earlier today, a letter from Pope Leo XIV arrived at Rate Field. Go White Sox!” the team posted on X. The letter, addressed to White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and dated Sept. 9 from the Vatican, thanks Reinsdorf for a note he sent following the Aug. 11 game at Rate Field. Leo wrote that he was “most grateful for this thoughtful gesture.” The pope also tied the team to a message about sports from his Feb. 6 letter, “Life in Abundance,” in which he wrote that sport can be “a school of life.” He said he hopes the White Sox “will continue to foster bonds of friendship and solidarity among people.” “With these sentiments, I willingly invoke the almighty’s abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones,” Leo wrote. The letter comes days after Leo, asked whether he had a hand in Chicago’s postseason berth, answered “No comment,” adding that “great things happen in Chicago.” Chicago clinched its first playoff appearance since 2021 with a win over the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 24. Last month, the White Sox held a Pope Leo-themed cap giveaway and later sent the hat to the pope, who took a picture with it. Leo became the Pope in May 2025. At the time, there was raging debate among Chicago baseball fans over whether Pope Leo, who’s from Chicago, was a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan. After some debate between the north and the south sides of Chicago, a picture surfaced of Pope Leo wearing a White Sox hat at the 2005 World Series, which was the team’s last championship win. However, the Pope might have brought some luck to both sides of the rivalry as the Cubs also qualified for the postseason in the NL. The last both teams reached the playoffs were in 1906, 2008 and the expanded field in 2020. The 1906 season was the only in which there was a Windy City World Series, with the White Sox beating the Cubs. The White Sox open game 1 of the AL Wild Card series in Houston against the Astros on Tuesday.