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Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Today in Chicago History: Michael Jordan wears No. 23 for the first time since his retirement
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on May 10, according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) High temperature: 90 degrees (2011) Low temperature: 28 degrees (1983) Precipitation: 2.84 inches (1951) Snowfall: Trace (1990) 1876: The first National League baseball game ever played in Chicago took place at 23rd and State streets. The White Stockings (forerunners of the Chicago Cubs) shut out the Cincinnati Red Stockings 6-0. The MVP, according to the Tribune, was the fans: 'The Tribune believes that so well-behaved, good-humored, and impartial an audience can be found nowhere else in the country. Yesterday, for instance, they applauded good plays by both sides with a judgment and fairness that deserves much credit.' 1990: The American Airlines terminal was dedicated at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Project cost: $345 million. 1995: For the first time since his first retirement, Michael Jordan put No. 23 back on for the Chicago Bulls during Game 2 of a playoff series against the Orlando Magic. Jordan scored 38 points in a 104-94 win. 'After his third or fourth foul, I was looking for 45 up on the scoreboard and couldn't see it,' Orlando Magic coach Brian Hill said. 'Then I noticed 23 up there and I looked at his shirt and said, 'Oh (expletive), he's wearing 23 tonight.'' The Bulls were fined $25,000 by the NBA for allowing Jordan to wear his old number. 2007: Juan Luna, who previously worked at the restaurant, was found guilty in the deaths of seven people at a Brown's Chicken in Palatine after it had closed for the night on Jan. 8, 1993. The victims included the two restaurant owners and five workers, two of whom were Palatine High School students. The case went unsolved for nearly a decade until police arrested Luna and James Degorski in 2002. Luna was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Degorski also was convicted of murder in 2009 and sentenced to life without parole. Also in 2007: Former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak was indicted on bribery and fraud charges. One of Chicago's most infamous aldermen, Vrdolyak became a national figure by leading a mostly white bloc of 29 City Council members to oppose the efforts of the city's first Black mayor, Harold Washington. Nicknamed 'Fast Eddie,' Vrdolyak was alderman of the Southeast Side's 10th Ward from 1971 to 1987, the year he, appearing on the Illinois Solidarity Party ticket, ran for mayor against Washington and lost. The Dishonor Roll: Meet the public officials who helped build Illinois' culture of corruption Years later, Vrdolyak was charged and pleaded guilty on two separate occasions. In 2009, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty the previous year to conspiring to commit mail fraud in a scheme to collect a $1.5 million fee when Rosalind Franklin University went to sell a Gold Coast property. He served about five months of an 18-month sentence for a 2019 guilty plea to a tax charge alleging he obstructed an IRS investigation into payments to and from a friend and associate related to the state's $9.2 billion settlement with tobacco companies in the late 1990s. Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past. Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@ and mmather@
National Post
09-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Pope Leo XIV brings hope to Chicago sports fans as Cubs, White Sox duel for his favour
Article content The sports loyalties of Pope Leo XIV became a topic of conversation almost as soon as the white smoke emerged from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. Article content Article content Elected on Thursday, Robert Prevost is the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church. The Chicago-born missionary, who took the name Leo XIV, also attended Villanova University near Philadelphia, where he received a Bachelor of Science in 1977. Article content Chicago's two baseball teams were front and center as sports fans reacted to the news. Article content It was initially reported that the new pope was a Cubs fan. The team congratulated Pope Leo XIV in a post on X that had a picture of Wrigley Field's iconic marquee with the message: HEY, CHICAGO. HE'S A CUBS FAN! Article content Congratulations to Pope Leo XIV! — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 8, 2025 Article content Article content But his brother, John Prevost, set the record straight in an interview with WGN-TV. The pope is a White Sox fan. Article content 'He was never ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan,' John said, adding that the confusion might stem from the fact their mother's side of the family were North Siders and Cubs fans. Article content The White Sox posted a clip from the brother's WGN interview on X, along with a picture of the Rate Field videoboard with the message: HEY CHICAGO, HE'S A SOX FAN! The post read 'Well, would you look at that… Congratulations to Chicago's own Pope Leo XIV.' Article content Well, would you look at that... Congratulations to Chicago's own Pope Leo XIV — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 8, 2025
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
A holy home run: Pope Leo is White Sox fan
For decades, long-suffering Chicago White Sox fans grumbled that it would take divine intervention for their baseball team to succeed. Now they have the holiest of supporters in their corner: Pope Leo XIV. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who on Thursday was elected pope to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, has been a longtime fan of one of his two hometown baseball franchises. Initially it appeared that both Chicago teams were claiming Leo as their own, fueling a cross-town beef -- until the pope's brother weighed in. Speaking to local television station WGN, John Prevost made it abundantly clear where Leo's sports allegiances lie. "Yeah he was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from," John Prevost told the station, referring to the other Chicago team in Major League Baseball. "He was always a Sox fan." Prevost also revealed some members of the family have been divided in their support. "Our mother was a Cubs fan... and our dad was a (St. Louis) Cardinals fan," he said. "And all the aunts, our mom's family, was from north side, so that's why they were fans" of the Cubs, which are headquartered in that part of town. His brother? "He rooted for the White Sox." The Sox swiftly took to X to capitalize on how the worldwide news touched their team, posting a photograph of a sign at their home stadium Rate Field, the former Comiskey Park, that reads: "HEY CHICAGO, HE'S A SOX FAN!" The team added in its post: "Well, would you look at that... Congratulations to Chicago's own Pope Leo XIV." Wrigley Field, longtime home of the Cubs, had posted a nearly identical message on its sign: "HEY CHICAGO, HE'S A CUBS FAN!" In one respect Leo is already following in the footsteps of papal predecessor Francis, the first Argentine pope, who was known for being a lifelong fan of his beloved local San Lorenzo football club in Buenos Aires. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005, ending an 88-year drought between their latest two Major League Baseball championship titles. mlm/jbr
Japan Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Times
Chicago has one burning question for Pope Leo XIV: Cubs or White Sox?
There is one question consuming Chicago baseball fans: What team does Pope Leo support? The Windy City is notoriously split between Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs supporters, a rivalry between the South and North sides. Father Gregory Sakowicz, rector of Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral, said he was in shock when Robert Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV, was named pope on Thursday. "He was not on my short, short list," he said. "I think he's going to be very strong on the immigrant, human rights and the care for the Earth." Sakowicz said one burning question was whether the pontiff was a fellow fan of the White Sox, as he grew up near the team's stadium on the city's South Side, or of their crosstown rivals, the Cubs. "I heard he's a Cubs fan," he said. "Well, God Bless him." The Cubs themselves claimed Leo as one of their own, posting on their X account congratulations and a photo of the iconic Wrigley Field sign with the words: "Hey, Chicago. He's a Cubs fan!" "Not only would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Field, he could sing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,'" Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement, referring to the song that fans belt out during the middle of the seventh inning. Ricketts also invited the pope to deliver a "Sermon on the Mound" at the ballpark. However, local television station WGN interviewed the pope's brother, John Prevost, on Thursday, and he cleared up the matter. Pope Leo is a fan of the White Sox, he said. "He was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from," Prevost said in an excerpt of the interview shared by the White Sox on X. "He was always a Sox fan." The White Sox also claimed the pope as a fan. "Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV's lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields," the White Sox said in a statement, referencing the location of the team's ballpark, Rate Field. "Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case, we're glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican. "A pinstripes White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at his ballpark."
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Pope Leo XIV's brother settles crucial Chicago debate: is the pontiff a White Sox fan or Cubs fan?
It didn't take long after Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the new pope for social media to catch fire with the most Chicago of debates: is Pope Leo XIV a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan? The Cubs shared a post on X showing a new message on the iconic Wrigley Field marquee, declaring "Hey, Chicago, He's a Cubs fan!" but the new pontiff's brother, John Prevost, said his little brother has been a proud White Sox fan since they were altar boys growing up in Dolton. "They had it wrong. He's Sox, and then the radio announced Cubs, and that's not true," he said. "Really, from Dolton to Sox Park wasn't that big of a deal, and of course we were both altar boys, so that was one of the rewards that we got was to go to a Sox game." In a statement, the White Sox said, "Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV's lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields." "Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case, we're glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican. A pinstripes White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at his ballpark," the team added. After learning the pope's brother settle the debate, the White Sox were quick to share the news on the center field scoreboard at Rate Field, mocking their North Side counterparts: "Hey Chicago, He's a Sox fan!" Now known as Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost has two brothers, John and Louis, who have been there for his journey from altar boy to the papacy. John, a retired Catholic school principal, now has the distinction of being the big brother to the first American pope. When he was just a toddler, Robert – now Leo XIV – is the youngest of three brothers. John said they had a normal childhood and traditional Catholic upbringing. They were all altar boys, but young Robert knew from a young age he wanted to be a priest. "You know how some kids like to play war, and be soldiers, and some girls want to play dolls, and be housewives. He wanted to play priest, and so he took our mom's ironing board, and put a tablecloth over it, and we had to go to mass," he said. "We went to mass, and he knew everything. He knew the prayers in Latin, he knew his prayers in English, and he did that all the time. He took it totally serious. It was not a joke, it was not a game. He was dead serious about it. Isn't that interesting?" John said one of the moms down the street from them told Robert in kindergarten or 1st grade that he'd become the first U.S.-born pope. What comes to mind when he now hears the name Pope Leo XIV when people talk about his brother? "Shock. Disbelief. A whole lot of pride. A whole lot of 'is this for real?' 'Now what are we going to do?' That kind of stuff, because this is an awesome responsibility that we have to live up to, that he has to live up to. People are going to be watching him from now on, closer than ever, and maybe us too, the family," he said. John said he hasn't had a chance to speak to his younger brother since he became pope, but he is headed to Rome on Friday to be part of the celebrations at the Vatican.
