Pope Leo XIV was given the chance to take credit for the most improbable turnaround in modern baseball. He declined, but not convincingly. Aboard the papal plane on Friday, a reporter asked the Chicago native whether he had anything to do with the White Sox reaching the playoffs two years after losing a modern-era record 121 games.

Smiling, he offered two words. “No comment,” Leo said, before adding, “Great things happen in Chicago.”

Reporter: "Did you have anything to do with that (White Sox making it to the playoffs)?"

Pope Leo: "No comment."

2024 White Sox Record: 41-121
2025 White Sox Record: 60-102
2026 White Sox Record: 82-77 PLAYOFFS pic.twitter.com/Ssyr6fqtVi

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 25, 2026

The turnaround genuinely borders on absurd. Chicago finished 41-121 in 2024, the most losses in a season in the modern era. The following year brought a 60-102 finish, a third consecutive campaign with at least 100 defeats. This season, the White Sox are 82-77 and headed to October for the first time since 2021. No team in MLB history had ever reached the postseason after losing 100 or more games in each of the three previous years.

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They clinched Thursday with a 9-1 win over the Royals in Kansas City, on the same day the Cubs locked up their own spot. Chicago currently holds the No. 3 American League wild card, though the seeding is not settled, as the White Sox trail Cleveland by one game in the AL Central.

Leo's fandom is not a novelty act. Born Robert Francis Prevost and elected in May 2025 as the first American pope, he grew up on the South Side and attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series as a cardinal. His brother John confirmed to WGN that he was never a Cubs fan, correcting early speculation after the election.

The team has embraced it fully. Rate Field features a mural of him near section 140 alongside a framed jersey reading “Pope Leo” with No. 14. The ballpark hosted a Catholic mass celebrating his election, and last month the club held a Pope Leo-themed cap giveaway before sending one to the Vatican, where he posed with it.

He has also shown he knows how the rivalry works. After the Cubs were eliminated last October, a fan in St. Peter's Square called out to him, and Leo responded with a grin: “Han perdido. They lost.”