Back in 2005, a Chicago White Sox fan by the name of Robert Francis Prevost attended Game 1 of the World Series. As White Sox closer Bobby Jenks was on the mound to close out the contest, the broadcast took a shot of the crowd, which featured Prevost cheering on his favorite team.

What the world didn’t know at the time was that Prevost would be elected pope 20 years later.

That’s right: Prevost now goes by the name Pope Leo XIV, and he has been very open about his sports fandom since taking his new job.

Well, Pope Leo’s fandom got taken to another level recently, as former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski gave the pope the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series … the same one the pope attended in person.
Perhaps Prevost’s attendance at Game 1 had something to do with that. Divine intervention would certainly explain the team’s good fortune in 2005, even if no one knew the future pope was cheering on the team at the time.