Understanding that not everybody may be equally fascinated with the concept of a White Sox fan pope, we at Sox Machine try to limit dedicated posts to unique aspects that would be impossible to fathom if they happened a year earlier.
So far, we've reserved Pope Leo XIV posts for:
- Wearing a White Sox cap at the Vatican
- Razzing a Cubs fan about losing in the NLDS at the Vatican
- Justin Ishbia giving him a White Sox jersey
And even then, that last post was more about Ishbia speaking publicly for the first time as the presumptive next owner of the White Sox, rather than the gift, as the pope gets a lot of jerseys.
So the fact that CBS News correspondent Chris Livesay gave Pope Leo XIV a Nellie Fox bat that had been in the family during the pontiff's first foreign trip runs the risk of redundancy, but two things make it stand out.
En route to Turkey, Pope Leo was gifted a bat once owned by Chicago White Sox legend Nellie Fox.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 27, 2025
CBS News foreign correspondent @SayChrisLive gave him the bat - a family heirloom - during the flight after some relatives encouraged him to give it to the pontiff, who is an avid… pic.twitter.com/jjOkpzAQye
First, there's the image of a pope holding a baseball bat, which is the stuff that had been reserved for parody.
Weirder still is that the pope's White Sox fandom is the second half of a story that begins with his appearance in Turkey, about which the newscast says "Pope Leo warned that the future of humanity is at stake, denouncing what he called the heightened level of conflict around the world." It doesn't seem like the White Sox shouldn't rate as nearly as significant a concern, and yet.
Spare Parts
Beyond the expected thrill of being named the hitting coach of the team he grew up rooting for, Derek Shomon's new job makes it easier on his family, as his 3-year-old son is working his way through therapy for cerebral palsy.
Dayan Viciedo, who turns 37 before next Opening Day, is returning to Yokohama for an 11th season in NPB. He's up to 1,001 games played in Japan, where he's hit .287/.352/.458 with 141 homers
Baltimore is among the most active teams early, as Mike Elias followed up trading for Taylor Ward by signing a closer for two years and $28 million.
Anthony Rendon is entering the final year of his seven-year, $245 million deal he signed with the Angels after the 2019 season. It's been a disaster for the last five seasons, during which Rendon has played a total of 205 games, and the sixth year might not happen.
- James Fegan's Saturday radio appearances -- Sox Machine Podcast
James joined both Inside The Clubhouse on 670 AM The Score and White Sox Weekly on ESPN 1000 AM on Saturday. You can listen to both segments in the player below or in your podcast feed.
