White Sox fan Pope Leo spotted in Sacramento ... twice ... sort of
Oscar Perez and his son, Tristan, live in Bakersfield, not Chicago. After some prodding, both admit they’re not practicing Catholics, either.
But the Chicago White Sox have been Oscar’s favorite team for decades, he said, because a former influential youth baseball coach who mentored him adored the club. And if you love the White Sox, then you also know one of their most famous fans is Pope Leo XIV, a south suburban Chicago native.
So on Saturday, the father-son duo donned papal garb at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, where they happily posed for pictures with native Chicagoans — and Sacramentans — during the A’s dramatic come-from-behind, extra-innings win over the Sox.
“We’ve gone to Dodger Stadium. We’ve been to the Anaheim Stadium, and this is our third stadium,” Oscar Perez said, adding, “in LA, we popped up next to the White Sox dugout, and we got a warm reception from the team.”
They plan to attend Sox games in San Franciso and San Diego next, they said.
On Saturday, they posed with a fan who told them they’d attended the same 2005 Sox World Series home game that Leo did ... and dozens of other fans, too. “The Athletics fans, they’ve been so welcoming,” Oscar Perez said.
White Sox fans have been dressing like Pope Leo ever since May 2025, when he became the first pope from the United States. The Sox have embraced Leo, marking the seat in their ballpark where he watched the 2005 World Series opener against Houston in Chicago; the Sox swept the Astros and haven’t won a world championship since.
The team even is planning a “Pope Hat” giveaway at an August game against the Cincinnati Reds. The hat is meant to resemble a religious mitre, adding a signature white stocking in the middle.
Will the Perez family make the journey to Chicago to upgrade their S-O-X mitres?
For now, they’re describing their papal routine as a distinctly “California” thing.
