Cynthia Castañeda has been Catholic as long as she’s been a White Sox fan — for her entire life.
Despite clear weather after severe storms that could only be described as an act of God, she and her husband Michael made the trip from Indiana to make the game and, more importantly, to celebrate Pope Leo XIV.
They were among the tens of thousands lining up outside Guaranteed Rate Field who collected a complimentary Sox-themed pope hat.
The couple, who both grew up on the South Side, are hoping the Sox-loving pope’s presence could bring about a new championship era.
“It makes for a deeper connection knowing he’s a Sox fan,” she said. “I hope he’s back for another World Series win.”
The giveaway was initially intended for just 2,500 fans with special tickets. But the giveaway soon expanded to the entire stadium of nearly 41,000.
As for making the pope-themed game an annual tradition?
“We’ll see,” says Brooks Boyer, White Sox executive vice president. “We wanna be super respectful to the pope, to the Vatican. Hopefully this represents a tie to his childhood team, doing it the exact right way.”
Boyer said the giveaway even caught the attention of the Pope, whose brother confirmed to the team’s front office that His Holiness had heard about the event.
Vendors outside the stadium sold pope pins, hats and shirts bearing the classic Sox batter logo adorning the papal crown.
The hats weren’t the game’s only religious fare.
Famed former White Sox organist Nancy Faust returned to her seat to perform the National Anthem after the first pitch was thrown out by Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield.
It was Sobieck’s second time at the mound. In 2018, she grabbed headlines tossing heat across the plate for another ceremonial first pitch.
The pregame ceremony included the handover of an oversize check totaling $14,000 to the Midwest Augustinian Province, the order to which then-Fr. Robert Prevost once belonged. Students from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy’s kids’ conclave joined players on the field briefly.
Preceding the seventh inning stretch, the team held a fifth inning “Peace be with you,” led by Evergreen Park and Marist High School alum Father Tom Hurley and comedian Pat McGann.
Not everyone was there for His Holiness.
Michael Rodriguez, a lifelong Sox fan, arrived with loved ones to celebrate his 29th birthday.
Rodriguez called it “God’s will” that the game landed the day before his birthday and brought him back to the stadium for the first time in five years.
“Growing up I was able to see the fireworks from my house in Pilsen, and it was always a great feeling,” Rodriguez said. “It still makes my face light up.”
Rodriguez credits the team’s recent success on the magic wand they’ve been waving from the dugout, not the pontiff. But the team really found what it needed in the recent trade for pitcher Luis Castillo, he said.
“I grew up in the World Series run, and that was magic to me,” Rodriguez said. “This team seems like they could make a magical run.”
Contributing: Jeff Agrest