Astros takeaways: Isaac Paredes' influence, late-game outfield moves and Chas McCormick's role
HOUSTON — Seventeen innings is not a sample size to lose sleep over, so Joe Espada stayed encouraged. His new-look lineup remained the only one in the sport without an extra-base hit but did fulfill an objective.
'Look back (at) last year and tell me when we walked nine times in two days,' Espada requested following Friday's 3-1 loss against the New York Mets.
Advertisement
The answer, appropriately, is that the Houston Astros drew exactly nine walks over a two-game stretch nine times last season. They also had 10 other two-game spans that featured more than nine walks, fitting for a lineup that drew the fourth-fewest free passes in the sport.
Runs, not walks, are required to win games, so some of Espada's excitement fell on deaf ears. Eighty-three plate appearances passed before his Houston Astros had their first extra-base hit of the 2025 season — a solo home run that Jeremy Peña snuck over Daikin Park's 19-foot high left-field wall on Saturday.
A frame later, Yordan Alvarez supplied the second, annihilating Griffin Canning's elevated slider 416 feet off the facade of Houston's bullpen. Isaac Paredes flew from first to home on the double. No player felt more fitting to score a series-deciding run.
Paredes is generating the least fanfare among an army of Astros newcomers, but he brought a new dimension this lineup desperately needed. Across Houston's first three games, Paredes personified the front office's offseason objective: addressing a lineup that grew far too aggressive last season.
Paredes saw 65 pitches across the 12 plate appearances he took against the Mets. He collected just one hit in the series — a single in Friday's loss — but provided plate appearances that can be contagious for a lineup trying to reverse its tendencies.
'He saw more pitches than what I did in half of last season,' utilityman Mauricio Dubón joked after Saturday's series-clinching win. 'Me and Peña were talking about it, he makes the pitcher work and it helps us a lot. That's who he is.'
'He's a guy that can put 40 (home runs) in the (Crawford) Boxes, but at the same time he can take his walks. We're grinding at-bats. We're seeing pitches. I don't know how many pitches I saw today, but I saw a career high probably.'
Advertisement
Dubón saw 13 during his three plate appearances, a massive amount for a player who averages 3.51. Prospect Cam Smith saw 23 in four plate appearances on Friday, while new first baseman Christian Walker watched 28 during his first eight plate appearances as an Astro.
Production remains a baseball team's foremost priority. Houston scored just six runs in three games while finishing 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Thirteen of the lineup's 15 hits were singles. Striking out 23 times makes it difficult to take pride in plate discipline or patience, but Espada left the series more encouraged than the numbers may suggest.
'That stuff matters,' Espada said. 'If you do that throughout a season, you're going to find yourself getting on base and giving your teammates opportunities to hit with people on base and you're going to get yourself some good pitches to hit.'
Carrying Cam Smith on the Opening Day roster removed any chance for Chas McCormick to carve out an everyday role.
'But, my whole career here, have I been an everyday player?' McCormick asked before not playing during Friday's 3-1 loss. 'Maybe for a month or two out of my five years I've been here.'
It's a pertinent question from a player whose role has always been debated. Even during McCormick's breakout 2023 season, former manager Dusty Baker refused to label him a 'big boy,' sharing concerns internally about McCormick's weight while measuring his playing time.
McCormick took 457 plate appearances that year. Seven Astros accumulated more, though McCormick did battle a back injury early in the season. McCormick hasn't taken more than 407 in any other season, allowing him at least some solace as he transitions to his new normal.
A subpar spring sunk any hopes McCormick had to seize the right-field job. Asked whether Smith's inclusion on the Opening Day roster surprised him, McCormick replied 'No, not really.'
Advertisement
'Obviously, I wanted to start Opening Day. That's a huge honor. And I want to be able to play (and see) them give me a chance to play every single day. But I know they still will give me a chance, even if I'm not playing every day and I've been in this role before,' said McCormick, who started in center field on Saturday and reached base twice.
'Was it hard individually? Yeah, obviously, you want to play every single day. But at the same time, I know where I'm at and I know where my role is.'
McCormick is opening up his stance in hopes of doing more damage against elevated pitches or those in the middle of the strike zone. The strong plate discipline he showed in spring remains intact — he worked a five-pitch walk on Saturday — but McCormick's path to playing time must involve doing more damage.
McCormick's decision to lay down a sacrifice bunt during Thursday's season-opener — against a left-handed reliever, no less — seemed suspect in the moment, but may speak to how hard he is still searching for his swing.
'My job is to play defense, move runners over,' McCormick said. 'I'll get opportunities to play and hit and swing, but my swing definitely feels better from the beginning of spring training until now. I've been doing some things. We'll see, but I definitely feel better.'
Saturday offered the first test in Houston's post-Ryan Pressly world. Starter Spencer Arrighetti threw six impressive innings, staking his club to a one-run lead. Setup man Bryan Abreu and closer Josh Hader were available to pitch, meaning Espada needed one arm to build a bridge.
The skipper chose southpaw Bryan King, a fast-rising, former Rule 5 pick who may now hold the title as Houston's third-most trusted reliever. King required 13 pitches to retire the middle of New York's order, sandwiching strikeouts of Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte around Mark Vientos' flyout.
Advertisement
'He's just super confident,' Espada said. 'That 92-93 (mph) plays up. He's got a really good slider. That fastball sneaks up on you. He's pitching very confident right now and he knows that he's going to get his opportunities.'
Summoning King seemed logical given two left-handed hitters were looming, but Espada — and everyone else in Houston's dugout — should've known Mets manager Carlos Mendoza would deploy one of the four right-handed hitters on his bench.
When Marte arrived, King froze him with three well-located four-seamers on the outer-half: a key to neutralizing the platoon advantage.
'Coming through the minors, I was never told I had a good fastball until I got here and they were like, 'Hey, there's something special there,'' said King, who uses above-average extension to allow his fastball to play up. 'That's definitely something we've used. I think that helps play with the other pitches — the sweeper, two-seam. It's a good combo that freezes hitters a lot.'
Deploying such an inexperienced outfield could present daily dilemmas for Espada, a manager unafraid to use his bench when a win is within his grasp.
'Once you go into the eighth or ninth inning and I'm bringing in two of the best relievers in the game, I feel like the game should be over,' Espada said, 'so I'm going to protect that lead with defense.'
And so, on Thursday and Saturday, he did. With Abreu and Hader ready to protect slim leads, Espada made a flurry of late-game substitutions that may soon become the norm, underscoring Houston's rationale in constructing its Opening Day roster.
On Thursday, Espada removed Smith from right field in the eighth inning in favor of McCormick. McCormick started in center field on Saturday, but shifted to right in the eighth inning so Jake Meyers could play center.
A frame later, Espada lifted Altuve from left field. Mauricio Dubón, who started the game at second base, replaced Altuve in the outfield while Brendan Rodgers played second.
Advertisement
Dubón in left, Meyers in center and McCormick in right is the team's best defensive outfield, but it's worth wondering how many times Espada will be able to construct it.
That there were five spots in the batting order ahead of Altuve's made Saturday's decision somewhat easier, though that isn't a luxury he'll often find. Still, as Espada pointed out, he made all these moves with two lethal bats still sitting idle on the bench: Smith and catcher Yainer Diaz.
'I have the best closer in the game coming in,' Espada said. 'Jose understands the situation that we're in — we're trying to get three outs.'
(Top photo of Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Peña: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Scottie Scheffler deletes Venmo account in latest incident of bettors harassing an athlete
That Scottie Scheffler is the prohibitive favorite to win the U.S. Open this week at historic Oakmont Country Club surprises no one. He's the top-ranked golfer in the world, winning three of his last four starts, including the PGA Championship. That Scheffler deleted his Venmo account because bettors continually clicked the pay/request link on the mobile payment app and rudely demanded that he reimburse them when he didn't win probably shouldn't surprise anyone, either. 'I think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial benefit or anything in their outcome,' Scheffler told reporters at the U.S. Open on Tuesday. 'That's why I had to get rid of my Venmo, because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn't win. It wasn't a good feeling.' Scheffler chuckled nervously when he said it, but athletes getting harassed by folks who lost money betting on their performances isn't a laughing matter. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a federal law that had prohibited most states from allowing sports betting, abuse toward athletes from bettors who blame them for their financial losses has soared. Gambling on sports is now legal in 39 states. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and Boston Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks said recently that their families have received death threats on social media. A man who lost money May 10 when McCullers gave up seven runs while recording only one out in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds threatened to 'murder' McCullers' two young daughters. Police traced the threats to an intoxicated man overseas who had lost money betting on the game. 'I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with,' McCullers said in an understatement. 'There have been many, many threats over the years aimed at me mostly ... but I think bringing kids into the equation, threatening to find them or next time they see us in public they're going to stab my kids to death. Things like that are tough to hear as a dad.' Hendriks posted on his Instagram story that he has received death threats while struggling to regain his form after missing nearly two years because of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Tommy John surgery. 'Threats against my life and my wife's life are horrible and cruel,' Hendriks wrote. 'You need help. Comments telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer are disgusting and vile. Maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate your life's purpose before hiding behind a screen attacking players and their families. Hendriks later explained to reporters why he responded on social media. 'With the rise of sports gambling, it's gotten a lot worse,' he said. 'Unfortunately, that tends to be what it ends up being — whether it be Venmo requests, whether it be people telling you in their comments, 'Hey, you blew my parlay. Go [f—-] yourself,' kind of stuff.' Some gamblers believe they can impact the outcomes of competition through harassment. FanDuel banned a man in Philadelphia after he bragged on social media about intimidating three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas at a Grand Slam Track meet two weeks ago. 'I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win,' he wrote on a post that included a screenshot of two bets on FanDuel. Thomas responded by posting, 'This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults — anybody who enables him online is gross.' College athletes are also targets, especially during high-volume betting events such as March Madness and the College Football Playoff. The NCAA is lobbying for states to ban proposition bets on the performances of individual college athletes, saying it creates a temptation to compromise game integrity. College athletes have long been considered more susceptible to taking money from gamblers than pro athletes because they are amateurs. That will soon change because of the passage last week of the House settlement, a revenue-sharing model that will allow universities to directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million per year. Not to say paying college athletes will insulate them from disgruntled gamblers. The NCAA will continue to press for laws that could ban bettors from state-licensed sportsbooks if they are found guilty of harassment. The sheer volume of betting makes policing the harassment and intimidation of athletes an enormous challenge. This year, it was estimated that $3 billion was legally wagered on the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), an increase of about 10% from 2024. In an attempt to be proactive about harassment ahead of March Madness, the NCAA posted a public service announcement video titled 'Don't Be a Loser.' 'There's losing and then there's being a loser. Game time comes with enough pressure,' the video said. 'Way too often, people are betting on sports, losing, and taking it out on the athletes. Only a loser would harass college athletes after losing a bet, but it happens almost every day. 'Root for your team, get crazy when the buzzer sounds, but don't harass anyone because you lost a bet. It's time we draw the line and put an end to the abuse.' Scheffler drew the line by deleting his Venmo account, which had become just another means for gamblers to communicate with a prominent athlete. His career earnings exceed $150 million, according to Spotrac, but he said a handful of bettors had paid him 'maybe a couple bucks here or there' via Venmo after he won tournaments and presumably lined their pockets as well. 'That didn't happen nearly as much as the requests did,' Scheffler added.
Forbes
8 hours ago
- Forbes
2025 NBA Free Agents: Teams Should Keep An Eye On This Forgotten Wing
HOUSTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 27: Jabari Smith Jr. #10 and Jae'Sean Tate #8 of the Houston Rockets react ... More against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at Toyota Center on December 27, 2024 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by) With the 2024-25 season nearing its conclusion, it is time to start looking ahead to the offseason. In this article series, we will take a look at under-the-radar options in the 2025 Free Agency Pool. For the sake of simplicity, we are going to focus primarily on unrestricted free agents. The 2025 offseason projects to be a busy one for the suddenly formidable Houston Rockets. Among their myriad decisions to make over these next few months is whether or not they should bring unrestricted free agent Jae'Sean Tate back for his sixth season in Texas. Given how well-liked Tate seems to be by his teammates, the Rockets could very well want to bring him back on a team-friendly deal. However, with so many other young players to develop, Houston may opt to let him walk and focus on feeding their bigger fish. If the latter transpires, playoff teams across the land should be scouring to sign Tate this summer. Last season, Tate appeared in just 52 games, averaging 3.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 11.3 minutes of action. He also did not see a single second in the Rockets' first round series against the Golden State Warriors (although he was dealing with an ankle injury). What makes a player like this worth writing an entire article about? Well, before we discuss this, we need to address some critical context. In his essence, Tate is a defense-first wing/forward. Unfortunately for him, the Rockets are chock full of this exact player type, and all of them rank higher on the totem pole than Tate. Between Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Cam Whitmore (who isn't really a good defender but still ranks ahead of Tate on the depth chart because of his untapped potential), the Rockets simply don't have enough minutes for a guy like Tate. Basketball is all about building a balanced roster. The Rockets have too many players similar to Tate for him to be valuable to them. But just because one playoff team doesn't have much need for him doesn't mean another one won't. For his career, Tate is a 30.9% 3-point shooter. Once upon a time, that type of efficiency for a player of his usage would be a death sentence in the playoffs. However, given the rise of physicality over the last few years and the innovations in the field of cutting, Tate's strengths have become much more useful, and his weaknesses far less damaging. For about the last year and a half, the league has revised its officiating approach to allow for more physicality and fewer fouls. This has increased the value of defense-first players like Tate (96th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes). Tate is also a serviceable cutter, as evidenced by his ability to get to the rim (78th percentile rim frequency, per Cleaning the Glass). His efficiency isn't as good, but that's likely a byproduct of the team's poor spacing. Clearly, though, he has the athleticism to find pockets of space and explode at the hoop, which should translate well to a team with less clutter inside. He was also in the 94th percentile in offensive rebounding rate among forwards (another indicator of his knack for cutting). What really draws me to Tate is his underrated skill with the ball. This season, he didn't get as many repetitions, but in 2023-24, his true shooting on drives was at 60%, which ranked in the 84th percentile leaguewide (per Thinking Basketball). So, if teams try to close out short to him, Tate has the ability to put the ball on the floor and bulldoze them with his powerful frame. Like many of the other names we will highlight in this series, Tate likely isn't a starting-caliber forward on a high-end team. But his high-end defensive impact coupled with his skills as a driver, cutter, and rebounder on offense gives him the makeup of a key rotational piece on a playoff team that isn't rich in wings/forwards like the Rockets (think a team like the Milwaukee Bucks or New York Knicks). And since his value has been diminished by the fact a logjam at forward made everyone forget about him, a team could nab this sneaky contributor for not too much more than the veteran minimum. That's a heck of a value for someone who, in the right matchup, could help swing a series.
Chicago Tribune
12 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Divine revelations: Pope Leo XIV's attendance at 2005 World Series leaves champion White Sox with an immaculate legacy
In the moment, the man who will go on to become the most recognizable religious leader in the world looks nervous. He looks as though even his considerable faith can be tested by the whims of his favorite baseball team. As if, perhaps, he's offering a silent prayer for one more out. In the moment, Robert Prevost, the native South Sider destined to become first American-born pope, is at the mercy of fickle spirits with Old Testament tempers. The baseball gods can be cruel and smiting, especially in Chicago, and Prevost has to understand this as well as anyone. One day people will come to see where he sat, to have their pictures taken and to feel a connection to him and their faith. One day soon, on Saturday, the team he roots for, the Chicago White Sox, will host an outdoor Mass in his honor and in celebration of a moment they shared. But the pilgrimages and the Mass will come a long time after he stands, like tens of thousands around him stand, in the anxious delirium of the top of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. It is then when the television camera finds him, by chance or by fate. There are two outs and the White Sox, holding a 5-3 lead against the Houston Astros, have their hard-throwing 24-year-old closer, Bobby Jenks, on the mound. The energy in what was then called U.S. Cellular Field radiates through the broadcast. Joe Buck, narrating the play-by-play, reiterates that it's the first World Series game in Chicago since 1959 and, after a 95-mph fastball from Jenks, the Sox 'are two strikes away from a win here in 2005 in Game 1.' The noise increases and then it happens in a quick shot of the crowd. 'What are the odds?' someone asks many years later in the comment section under the video, after it becomes clear that Prevost, the Chicago-born priest and future Pope Leo XIV, is in the stands, dressed not in the black and white of clerical garb but that of a White Sox loyalist, in what looks to be a jersey under a coat. He's not too far above the home dugout, hoping — praying? — for one final out. The moment on TV lasts three seconds, maybe less, but when it reemerges almost 20 years later, not long after white smoke rises from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, it is reborn. It conjures questions of divinity. It symbolizes faith. It provides proof, the most ardent Catholics among White Sox supporters might attest, of the existence of a higher power. At the least it is celebrated, the sight of Prevost next to his friend Ed Schmit III and Schmit's son, Ed IV, then 5 years old. Prevost, 20 years before his election as pope, still young in the face, wears an antsy smile. He bows his head and then looks up, toward the scoreboard. Next to him, Schmit holds his boy in one arm and flashes two fingers, for two outs, with his free hand. Anticipation builds. Jenks wastes no time. Two more pitches result in two more strikes, the final one a 96-mph blur, and exactly 33 seconds after Prevost appears on screen, Game 1 is over. The crowd erupts. A rush of fireworks goes off over center field. Ozzie Guillén, then the 41-year-old White Sox manager, offers quick fist bumps in the dugout and embraces Jenks with a big smile. For almost 20 years, the final moments of that game remain a footnote in the larger story of the White Sox's four-game sweep. They're lost amid Jermaine Dye's steady hitting and Paul Konerko's seventh-inning grand slam in Game 2; almost forgotten around Chicago in the joy surrounding the Sox's third World Series championship, and first (and still only) since 1917. But then come the revelations: the white smoke in Vatican City, Prevost's election and transformation to Pope Leo XIV, an American city's pride in the ascension of one of their own. There are memes: 'Da Pope,' and Holy Communion with Vienna Chicago-style hot dogs and deep dish pizza; the new pope blessing everyone but cursing Green Bay. Mild sacrilege, arguably, but funny. And there are questions, including those about his baseball loyalties. There is, at first, something like a false prophecy — that the pontiff is a Cubs fan. Soon come the firm corrections, the now-viral photo and video from Game 1 of the '05 Series, and the proof of his allegiance. Pope Leo XIV's oldest brother is a Cubs fan, but the pope, himself, never wavered from his South Side roots. 'We used to give each other grief all the time,' Louis Prevost, 73, says of their childhood. 'And in those days, the Cubs were pretty sad … 'When I saw the picture (from the 2005 World Series), I was like, 'How the heck did he get into that?' But that was him at the game there. That was his thing. He liked to get out and go to a game once in a while. Eat a hot dog. Have some pizza. Like any other guy in Chicago on the South Side.' In the moment that night in October 2005, Robert Prevost indeed looks like any other guy from the South Side. That has become a big part of the allure. The night has taken on a sense of timelessness. Two decades later, people want to revisit it. Some are making pilgrimages to Rate Field, now home to one of the most hapless teams in baseball, to feel closer to Pope Leo XIV. 'How special,' Guillén says one evening in May, after the White Sox unveiled a mural in honor of Pope Leo XIV. Guillén is 61 now and sitting in a green room above home plate at Rate Field, where he works as an analyst on the Chicago Sports Network. He's dressed in his TV clothes and like a lot of people these days, the 2005 World Series has come to feel more spiritual for him, too. 'Like, this man was here,' Guillén says of the pope. 'That really hits you in the face. 'Like, what a moment.' The connection to Pope Leo XIV means more to Guillén because of his deep ties to the White Sox, as a player and manager, and because of his established roots in Chicago, his adopted hometown. But it goes beyond that, too, given his faith. Guillén grew up in a religious home in his native Venezuela and spent three years carrying the cross in a Catholic church, an altar boy with a talent for baseball. He says the church provided structure — the only things he did was 'play (baseball), go to school and be the altar boy' — and refuge. It wasn't uncommon, Guillén says, for his priest to give him money because Guillén grew up with little of it. Even as a boy, the future Major League shortstop knew that one day he'd name his first-born son after that priest. And indeed, Ozzie Guillén Jr.'s middle name is Eduardo, after 'Padre Eduardo' from his father's homeland. In the days after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the younger Guillén posed the question his father hadn't yet pondered: Did he ever think, growing up as an altar boy in Venezuela, that the pope would know who he was? Guillén laughed. 'I said, 'He don't know who I am,'' Guillén says. To which his son replied: 'Of course, he does. He was in there (for the World Series). You were the manager.' Guillén's wife is 'very, very Catholic,' he says, and years ago, during a visit to Rome, they had occasion to visit with Pope Francis. The Guilléns took pride in the first Latin American pope in history. When he died in April, Guillén says his wife cried. She spent weeks watching the news coverage, waiting to learn of Pope Francis' successor, only to find out it was a Chicago-born priest who rose through the church during his years in Peru. And not only that — but that he happened to be a White Sox fan who sat near the dugout in the 2005 World Series, cheering on her husband and his players. 'It should make it more special for all the guys who wear the uniform, knowing they were playing in front of' the future Pope Leo XIV, Guillén says. 'Look where he is now.' Guillén wants to take another trip to Rome with his wife. He hopes the new pope might bless him. 'I want to meet him,' he says. Looking back, it's easy to become swept away in the spirituality of it all. The feeling that perhaps a higher power really was at work. It's enough to turn skeptics into believers. The White Sox won all four of those World Series games by no more than two runs. They overcame deficits in two of them. They rallied from two runs down with Konerko's grand slam in the seventh inning of Game 2, only to lose the lead in the top of the ninth and then win on Scott Podsednik's unlikely home run in the bottom of the inning. They trailed by four in Houston in Game 3, then rallied again and won in 14 innings. They scored the lone run of Game 4 in the eighth inning, only for Jenks in the bottom of the ninth to allow a leadoff single before retiring three consecutive batters to close out the Series. And that run of good fortune, of the baseball gods smiling kindly after so many years of cursed luck, began in some ways in Game 1. It began with the future pope watching not more than two dozen rows behind the Sox dugout. With future President Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois, also in attendance. It has to be the first and only sporting event in history with a future pope and future U.S. president among the crowd, both rooting for their neighborhood's team. 'As my fellow South Siders know, it has been a long time coming,' Obama said during a speech on the Senate floor the day after the Sox's victory in Game 4. He referenced how appropriate it felt that the final out came on a throw that was on time 'by only half a step;' how the White Sox won four games by a total of six runs. 'Win by the skin of your teeth,' Obama said. 'Win or die trying, that's our motto this year.' 'I had the privilege of attending Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday,' he said moments later, 'and the fans in and around the park were a cross-section of the city.' Few scenes spoke more to that than the one in Section 140, down along the third base line. There, in row 19, a Chicago-born priest of the Augustinian Order, a former Peruvian missionary then based in Rome, stood alongside three generations of South Siders to cheer on a Venezuelan-born manager leading a team that came to embody a city's identity. The mural honoring that long-ago night is painted on one of the pillars at the entrance of Section 140, and pays homage to the dual identities of the man depicted. In the larger image, there's Pope Leo XIV, in full papal regalia, lifting his right arm as if to offer a blessing. In a smaller one, in the top right, there's Robert Prevost, then known as Father Bob, attending Game 1 in 2005. It's a screenshot of the moment the camera found him in the top of the ninth. There's little Eddie Schmit next to him and his father, Eddie III. Just out of the frame is Ed Schmit Jr., who was closest of all to Father Bob and who knew him well from their work at St. Rita High School, where Father Bob sometimes taught and where Schmit Jr. was an alum and founding board member. About a dozen members of the Schmit family gathered for the mural's unveiling last month. Schmit Jr. died in July 2020 of pancreatic cancer, but his memory loomed large. 'He is just smiling down,' said Father Tom McCarthy, former principal at St. Rita and a longtime friend of both Schmit Jr. and the pope. Father Bob called Schmit Jr. often in his final days and their conversations never ended without Schmit sharing his belief that Prevost would be pope one day. It was something Schmit thought for a long time, from back when Father Bob blessed family babies and when Schmit often offered him Sox seats that have been in his family since 1983 at the old Comiskey Park. The site of the mural and the pope's seat in Section 140 is now something like a holy site, a shrine for the curious and the more spiritual. It's not a stretch to say people are making pilgrimages to it. On the first Monday in June, the line to take pictures with Pope Leo XIV's likeness stretches well into the concourse. It curls around the Mini Melts ice cream stand and ends near the beer counter where 16-ounce tall boys go for $12.99. A nearby usher, Keith Coplen Jr., says it's his first night on the job, and that he's nervous because he's in charge of the aisle of the mural. He prepares for the crowd but takes comfort in his surroundings and before it becomes too busy he takes a breath. 'I think Jesus is with me,' he says, nodding in the direction of the artwork next to him. Eighteen rows down, two men are on an expedition and stop when they find what they're looking for: Seat 2 in Row 19 of Section 140. It's Father Bob's seat from that night in 2005. They take turns sitting in it and take pictures of each other and, as Catholics, they feel drawn to the location, even if 20 years have gone by. 'I had to see this,' one of them, Dick Schindel, says as he leans against the row. Up above, Coplen is keeping count of those who come to the mural. There's a dozen, two dozen, more than 50 less than an hour before the first pitch, and 161 and counting when the Sox take the field. The rush grows busier the closer it gets to game time. People approach and make the sign of the cross. Families arrange themselves for the perfect picture. Some hold up prayer hands. Some hold out their phones for selfies. 'He's blessing me!' one woman yells to her friends, after she has stood beneath Pope Leo XIV's extended right arm. The White Sox are in last place again and the upper deck is closed again and the team's descent is perhaps proof of the limits of God's power, or priorities. For one night 20 years ago, though, something divine happened here. Believers were made. Faith rewarded. The spirit lingers, for those who seek it.
