Pope Leo XIV: Is He a Cubs or White Sox Fan?
Is Pope Leo XIV a Cubs or a White Sox fan? Image credits: Sky News
When it became known that Pope Leo XIV had grown up on the south side of Chicago in the 1950s, the first thing U. S. reporters wanted to know was whether he was a Cubs or White Sox fan.
I knew the answer before they did.
As a student at the University of Chicago in the 1940s, I had learned first-hand that a Cubs fan in South Chicago wouldn't have survived any longer than a New York Giants fan in Brooklyn in those days. Having grown up in the three-team New York area, I was used to the fierce tribalism that prevailed in some multi-team areas.
It wasn't so intense in cities where one team was dominant: St. Louis, where the Cardinals were frequent winners and the Browns were perennial second-division dwellers, or Boston, where the Red Sox were New England's team and the Bees, who changed their name to Braves, struggled and starved and eventually moved away.
But in New York there were three distinct tribes. The Yankees, perennial American League winners or contenders, were considered the team for high society, aristocrats, Wall Street, and the tourists. Their symbol, appropriately, was a top hat. Their big rivals were out-of-towners: the Boston Red Sox.
New York was the only city with two teams in the National League. The Giants were the tribe of Broadway, the working man, salesmen, the suburbs of Long Island and Staten Island.
And the Dodgers? They belonged to Brooklyn, a river and a world apart. To be a Giants fan in Brooklyn was more hazardous than being a Cubs fan in south Chicago.
The Giants and Dodgers played each other 22 times a year, including Sunday and holiday doubleheaders that drew capacity, belligerent crowds at either the Polo Grounds or Ebbets Field. Fights were frequent occurrences, both on and off the field.
In Chicago, the Cubs had been pennant winners several times in the 1930s and would be again in 1945. The White Sox hadn't won a pennant since 1919 (and we all know how that turned out) and had been frequent second-division dwellers ever since. The college was midway between Wrigley Field, which is downtown on the north side, and Comiskey Park in the gritty, industrial South Chicago.
Whenever I could, I went to games at both fields. As a stranger, I remember being confronted at Comiskey by small groups of tough-looking kids, demanding to know if I was a Cubs fan. Wrigley Field was more welcoming, I do not recall having my allegiance questioned there. But I made sure to be a vocal home team rooter at both ballparks.
The White Sox enjoyed a resurrection during the Pope's childhood in South Chicago. They won a pennant in 1959 and were a frequent first division team during his school years.
