This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
KANSAS CITY – The White Sox had a strong feeling their Pope Hat giveaway at Rate Field on Aug. 11 would be something special.
Special, as in part of a specialty-themed night ticket fans could purchase to receive the item. Special, as in the strong connection between the White Sox organization and their fan base and Robert Prevost, who is better known as Pope Leo XIV.
Not only is Prevost the first Pope to come from Chicago, but he also has assumed the unofficial title of the most prominent, most famous White Sox supporter. So, it’s of little surprise that this giveaway went from special to a blessing for many as announced by the team Friday.
This change means all fans who attend the game against the Reds are scheduled to receive the Pope Hat. The decision took root on Thursday at around 3:45 p.m. CT, when Mike Downey and Gareth Breunlin approached executive vice president Brooks Boyer.
“They kind of had a look on their face, and I said, ‘What’s happening?’” Boyer told MLB.com during a phone conversation Friday. “They were like, ‘Pope Hat is blowing up.’ That’s when they said, ‘We are on with the vendor, and we really think we should move this to an all-fan gate giveaway.’
“We talked about there are people that bought the ticket package, because they were getting this exclusive Pope Hat. Now everyone is going to get it. So, we are adding a second item for people who purchased the tickets with the hat.”
What is that new special item for those ticket purchasers? It’s a surprise right now, according to Boyer.
“These aren’t gate giveaways,” added Boyer, explaining the original premise behind the Pope Hat, shaped like the Pope’s miter and featuring a White Sox logo. “We do this to spur some sales for some games that we felt would be attractive to fans.
“But this one is on a Tuesday night. We don’t do gate giveaways on Tuesday nights. We do them on Saturdays. So, this is really for a group. Usually for these types of things, we do 1,000 to 1,500. Well, Mike Downey kept saying, this one really had a chance to pop.”
No direct contact has taken place between the Vatican and the White Sox since Pope Leo XIV took over, according to Boyer. But the White Sox take notice of his ardent, genuine fandom.
“A number of people with Chicago connections have gone over there and have had an audience with the Pope, and he regularly talks about Chicago, talks about the White Sox,” Boyer said. “You see the interaction of people reaching out, like when he’s doing something, whether it’s giving him a hat or yelling something to him, he comes back and says, ‘It’s Opening Day’ or ‘They need to win more games.’
“That one pulls at our heart because that’s a true Sox fan. We go 161-1 and Sox fans would say, ‘Let’s win more games.’ We are all wired that way. So, that certainly is super cool when you know that the Pope is keeping tabs on your club.”
It’s a similar feeling for the White Sox players. Davis Martin, who started Friday night in Kansas City, has a text chain going with Declan Cronin and Lane Ramsey, his close friends, and former White Sox prospects with Martin.
After Martin and the White Sox beat the Blue Jays in his last start, which happened to be Easter Sunday, Cronin commented how he loved to think of the Pope fist-pumping after that White Sox win on this special day. As one of the elder statesmen on this team, the Pope might know about Martin’s work.
“Who knows? If he does, awesome. If he doesn’t, it’s fine,” Martin said. “He’s got much more important things to do. It’s a really cool connection to the South Side, to the Chicago White Sox. It’s already a pretty global brand, but I feel like it gets taken to a whole another level with the Pope.”
A retirement ceremony for Ozzie Guillen’s jersey No. 13 takes place on Aug. 8, the weekend before the Pope Hat giveaway. Major League Baseball’s Trade Deadline is set for Aug. 3, although there’s no official White Sox giveaway set yet on that date.
Nonetheless, it should be an exciting 10-day stretch for the organization and a celebration for the masses on Aug. 11. Think of the fan attire on that evening.
“It’s super exciting to get the season started again and to keep going in our process of the team being better,” Boye said. “At the same time, we are always looking for ways to add value to people’s purchase of tickets.
“Not just the Pope hat, but the other things that we announced.
Certainly, we think they will get people to feel like when they come out to the ballpark, there’s always a little something extra.”