Pope Leo XIV asked fan ‘White Sox or Cubs?’ before autographing baseball at the Vatican
The first American pope asked the question every Chicago baseball fan would before signing a baseball
It’s not often that the sports world becomes enamored with the papal selection process, but that changed when word broke of Pope Leo XIV’s selection as the first American pope last week. As soon as the world found out the new pope was from Chicago, sports folks immediately dug in to see where he stands as a fan of sports teams in the Windy City.
After some back-and-forth between the Cubs and White Sox about who got to claim the pope as a fan, pictures of the now-pope at the 2005 World Series wearing White Sox gear surfaced, seemingly confirming his allegiances lie with the South Side squad. This weekend, Pope Leo XIV made his first public appearances since becoming the pope, and added to his legend among baseball fans when he signed a baseball for a visitor to the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Monday.
Jason Perash, an Orioles fan from Colorado, is an avid collector of autographed baseballs and brought some to the Vatican in hopes of adding the pope’s signature to his collection, according to Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times. He managed to do just that, but Pope Leo XIV did make him answer one very important question before signing it: “White Sox or Cubs?”
Perash, wisely, answered White Sox and is now the proud owner of some of the rarest baseball memorabilia possible: a pope-signed ball.
“It’s one of my life highlights, it’s already that big in my mind. … I’m just happy that he was chosen,” Perash told the Sun-Times. “I think he’ll do well. And the fact that he relates to baseball in some way is a plus, because every other Pope would probably have been dumbfounded as to why anybody would want them to sign a baseball.”
It certainly doesn’t sound like Perash plans on auctioning off his pope-signed ball, as it will go in his collection alongside some other White Sox legends like a Mark Buehrle perfect game ball and a few Frank Thomas home run balls, per the Sun-Times. That said, if he did look to auction it off — which may be frowned upon from a theological perspective — one would figure there’d be plenty of interest in the papal baseball.
We’ve seen some huge price tags for auctioned off baseballs from milestone moments — Shohei Ohtani’s 50/50 ball went for north of $4 million — but a regular signed ball not attached to an in-game moment tends to go for significantly less. For example, the highest going rate for a signed ball is a Babe Ruth at $20,000-$200,000, while someone like Mickey Mantle is $500-$10,000, depending on quality, per the Highland Mint.
I’m not sure where the pope lands among the baseball signing hierarchy among Yankees legends, but for now there’s only one ball inscribed “Leone PP XIV,” the pope’s official signature in Latin.
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