Pope Leo XIV’s connection to the Chicago White Sox has always been more than just a passing headline. Now, the story has the ending it deserved. The pontiff has finally received the signed Paul Konerko jersey that was sent in July 2025, giving one of baseball’s strangest recent crossover stories a genuinely neat full-circle moment.
Paul Konerko and Dusty Baker spent the majority of their careers in Major League Baseball with teams other than the Los Angeles Dodgers. All six of Konerko's All-Star game appearances came as a member of the Chicago White Sox, while Baker spent 11 seasons as a player — and all 26 as a manager — outside Los Angeles.
Paul Konerko’s son has made his college decision. Owen Konerko, a top-ranked member of the Class of 2027, announced his commitment to the University of Michigan on September 29, sharing the news across his personal social media accounts.
The 2026 season has been headlined by young players emerging, but some wily veterans have also had their day. As we head toward the end of the regular season, these 30 players stand out as the biggest surprises on their teams.
Where were you 20 years ago? That’s the question we asked White Sox fans on the anniversary of Game 2 of the 2005 World Series, where Paul Konerko sent the South Side into a frenzy with his seventh-inning grand slam.
They brought back the legends. They gave Paul Konerko a jersey signed by an actual pope. And for a couple of minutes, the vibes felt good on the South Side.
The best stat to determine a player's worth is WAR--wins above replacement--an analytical metric that was not available until relatively recently. The formula for WAR differs for position players and pitchers, and I'll lay it out in layman's terms.