White Sox Great Paul Konerko Gets Gift from Pope Leo XIV in Honor of 2005 Title
Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, presented Konerko a jersey with the new pontiff's signature on the back during a ceremony prior to the game against the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday. It had the six-time All-Star's last name and "Pope Leo" above the No. 14.
Robert Prevost became the first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church when he was elected on May 8. The Chicago-born missionary, who took the name Leo XIV, is a White Sox fan.
Prevost attended the 2005 World Series opener against Houston in Chicago. He watched from Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2 as the White Sox beat the Astros 5-3 on the way to a four-game sweep and their first title since 1917.
In May, the team unveiled a graphic installation near the seat paying tribute to Pope Leo and that moment. The pillar artwork features a waving Pope Leo XIV, along with a picture from the TV broadcast of the future pope sitting with good friend Ed Schmit and his grandson, Eddie.
Members of the 2005 team are in Chicago this weekend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the championship run. The White Sox debuted uniform patches honoring late closer Bobby Jenks, who died last week in Portugal, where he was being treated for stomach cancer. On Friday, the team unveiled a statue of former ace Mark Buehrle.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Major League Baseball Chicago White Sox
recommended
Item 1 of 3 Get more from the Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
28 minutes ago
- New York Post
Yankees in trouble if inadequate first half gets benefit of grading on curve
Access the Yankees beat like never before Don't miss Greg Joyce's text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he's giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees. Sign Up Now Aaron Boone graded his team as 'incomplete' for the first half. Inadequate would be more accurate. Not good enough for sure. As the Yankee manager is wont to note — and did again Sunday — 'all the hopes and dreams are right there and still exist for us.' Indeed. The Yankees are not the Rockies or White Sox. They have enough talent in a watered-down American League that winning a second straight pennant is no pipe dream. It also is not happening if the Yankees of the past seven weeks linger. The Yankees, after all, are not judged against the Rockies and White Sox. They are judged against their history, payroll and expectations. And how they have performed, since late May generally and mid-June specifically, will make reaching the playoffs challenging, regardless of how diminished the league might be. Because the left side of their infield is a disaster. Their rotation and homer-challenged bullpen are both depth challenged. Their homer-dependent offense can score 10 or zero, which is how the Yanks could have the majors' second-best run differential and be so underperforming it.
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Freddie Freeman's bloop single in 11th starts winning rally as Dodgers beat Giants 5-2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Freddie Freeman blooped a single into shallow right-center with two outs in the 11th inning to score James Outman for the go-ahead run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Sunday for a winning series, one day after snapping a season-worst, seven-game losing streak. Spencer Bivens (2-3) intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to start the 11th and retired Mookie Betts and Will Smith before Freeman delivered with a ball that dropped between three Giants. Teoscar Hernández then beat out an infield single for an insurance run and Andy Pages followed with an RBI single. Ben Casparius (7-3) got Willy Adames to ground out ending the 10th, then pitched a perfect 11th for the win. Pinch-hitter Luis Matos hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth after Matt Chapman's one-out single started the rally against Tanner Scott, who blew his seventh save in 26 opportunities. Miguel Rojas homered and Freeman had an early RBI double that had Los Angeles ahead until the ninth. Dodgers starter and first-time All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out seven over seven innings and allowed three hits. The defending World Series champion Dodgers (58-39) entered the All-Star break atop the NL West after finishing the first half with nine straight games against clubs with winning records. Manager Dave Roberts and his staff head to manage the NL All-Stars in Atlanta, where he said Sunday he plans to pitch left-hander Clayton Kershaw early in what could be his final Midsummer Classic. Los Angeles had done just enough against Giants lefty Robbie Ray in a game featuring just 11 total hits. Key play Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos made a leaping catch on the wall to rob Ohtani of an extra-base hit to start the game. Ohtani walked in the fourth, singled in the fifth and flied out in the eighth. Key stat San Francisco (52-45) reached the break with 52 wins for the fifth time over the last 20 seasons — also doing so when it won the NL West with a franchise-best 107 victories in 2021, 2016, '14 and '11. Up next Neither club had set its rotation for after the All-Star break, when the Dodgers host Milwaukee to begin a six-game homestand on Friday and the Giants visit Toronto. ___ AP MLB:
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Freddie Freeman's bloop single in 11th starts winning rally as Dodgers beat Giants 5-2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Freddie Freeman blooped a single into shallow right-center with two outs in the 11th inning to score James Outman for the go-ahead run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Sunday for a winning series, one day after snapping a season-worst, seven-game losing streak. Spencer Bivens (2-3) intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to start the 11th and retired Mookie Betts and Will Smith before Freeman delivered with a ball that dropped between three Giants. Teoscar Hernández then beat out an infield single for an insurance run and Andy Pages followed with an RBI single. Ben Casparius (7-3) got Willy Adames to ground out ending the 10th, then pitched a perfect 11th for the win. Pinch-hitter Luis Matos hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth after Matt Chapman's one-out single started the rally against Tanner Scott, who blew his seventh save in 26 opportunities. Miguel Rojas homered and Freeman had an early RBI double that had Los Angeles ahead until the ninth. Dodgers starter and first-time All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out seven over seven innings and allowed three hits. The defending World Series champion Dodgers (58-39) entered the All-Star break atop the NL West after finishing the first half with nine straight games against clubs with winning records. Manager Dave Roberts and his staff head to manage the NL All-Stars in Atlanta, where he said Sunday he plans to pitch left-hander Clayton Kershaw early in what could be his final Midsummer Classic. Los Angeles had done just enough against Giants lefty Robbie Ray in a game featuring just 11 total hits. Key play Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos made a leaping catch on the wall to rob Ohtani of an extra-base hit to start the game. Ohtani walked in the fourth, singled in the fifth and flied out in the eighth. Key stat San Francisco (52-45) reached the break with 52 wins for the fifth time over the last 20 seasons — also doing so when it won the NL West with a franchise-best 107 victories in 2021, 2016, '14 and '11. Up next Neither club had set its rotation for after the All-Star break, when the Dodgers host Milwaukee to begin a six-game homestand on Friday and the Giants visit Toronto. ___
