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Pope Leo XIV has received a special gift from former Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The pontiff has been given the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. It was unclear when exactly the exchange occurred, but Pierzynski posted pictures<\/a> on social media on Thursday showing the moment at the Vatican.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c7 year old me, at my First Communion, would have never thought that I would get to meet The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV,\u201d Pierzynski wrote on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cI was honored to give him the last out ball from Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, the game he attended.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Leo<\/a> is a White Sox fan dating to his days growing up in Chicago. He was known as Robert Prevost or Father Bob when he went to the World Series opener 21 years ago, a 5-3 White Sox victory that ended when Bobby Jenks struck out Houston\u2019s Adam Everett with Pierzynski behind the plate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There is a graphic installation<\/a> at Rate Field that marks the section where the pope sat for Game 1. The White Sox went on to a four-game sweep for the championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The first pope<\/a> from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church has received several sports-related gifts since he was elected last May.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He was given a pinstriped No. 14 White Sox jersey<\/a> with \u201cKonerko\u201d and \u201cPope Leo\u201d written on the back and signed by former White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, who wore No. 14 during his playing career. He also has a bat that once belonged to Hall of Famer Nellie Fox, who spent most of his career with the White Sox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Shortly after he became the pope, Leo was given a custom Chicago Bears jersey from Vice President JD Vance. He was presented<\/a> with a Chicago Bulls jersey with No. 14 and \u201cPope Leo\u201d on the back from Bulls radio broadcaster Chuck Swirsky in November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The White Sox plan to pay tribute to Leo at their Aug. 11 game against Cincinnati, handing out pope-themed hats<\/a> to fans. The hats are shaped like the pope\u2019s miter, with the team\u2019s sock logo in the middle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n