When A.J. Pierzynski went to introduce himself to Pope Leo XIV, the pontiff laughed and told the former Chicago White Sox catcher not to worry — he knew who he was.
Pierzynski was admittedly nervous going into the meeting. He wasn’t sure if Leo would recognize him or the history they shared. Nearly 21 years had passed since that crucial October weekend they both spent at Rate Field, which at that point was called U.S. Cellular Field. Pierzynski was behind home plate and Leo, then known as Robert Provost or just Father Bob, was in the stands.
So for their reunion of sorts this week, this time across the Atlantic, Pierzynski didn’t exactly know how the conversation would unfold. He did, though, have a surprise up his suit jacket sleeve: a memento from that moment in Chicago some two decades ago, when they were just player and fan.
Pierzynski met with Leo at the Vatican on Wednesday and marked the occasion by gifting the pontiff, a lifelong White Sox fan, the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. Pierzynski documented the exchange, which friends of his helped organize, in a post to social media Thursday.
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“(It) was just the most special moment, probably of my life,” Pierzynski, who was raised Catholic, told the Tribune in an overseas call late Thursday afternoon.
Leo is no stranger to a personalized bestowal, particularly of the Chicago variety. Since the native South Sider became the first American-born pope just over 13 months ago, the tributes and testaments to his Midwestern roots have mounted: an authentic Bulls jersey inscribed with “Pope Leo” and the number 14 on the back; a key to the city of Chicago and an invitation to deliver Mass at Grant Park; a mural at Rate Field.
It’s that breadth of revelry that had Pierzynski thinking: What could he possibly give the pope that he doesn’t have?
Turns out, he needed to look no further than his wall, where the sort of singular gift he sought sat in a case, as it had for the past 20 years.
Of the dozens of baseballs used that night, this one was the one to keep. It was the top of the ninth inning of the ‘05 World Series opener. There were two outs and the White Sox — holding a 5-3 lead against the Houston Astros — had their then-24-year-old closer Bobby Jenks on the mound.
Jenks throws a 95 mph fastball and sportscaster Joe Buck, over the broadcast, announces the Sox “are two strikes away from a win here in 2005 in Game 1.” Another pitch, another strike. One more to go. In a 96 mph blur, the ball sinks into Pierzynski’s mitt.
“It was the first time the White Sox had won a World Series game” in 46 years, Pierzynski recalled. The Sox went on to sweep the Astros for the championship, their first since 1917. “That ball meant a lot to me, to the fans, to the team.”
Over the years, Pierzynski held onto the ball for his own sentimentality, but he also always had a feeling there’d be a reason or a special occasion to share the keepsake. Little did he know he was waiting for the pope, who had his own ties to the game-winning play.
Famously, the future pontiff watched the series opener from Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2. His attendance just so happened to be captured by television cameras, a clip that quickly resurfaced online after he was elected pope. Just as serendipitous: The camera finds him as Jenks sets out on securing that last out.
“It had to be divine intervention for Fox to cut to him at that moment,” Pierzynski said.
It would have been hard not to gift that memory back to Leo. Though that final strikeout, and that series, still sticks with Pierzynski — especially in the wake of Jenks’ death last year — the retired major leaguer thought his meeting with the pope presented the “perfect opportunity to share the Catholic faith with the White Sox.”
Pierzynski remembered receiving his First Communion while growing up in Florida and remarked how back then, his 7-year-old self wouldn’t have thought a private audience with the pope was on the horizon 40-plus years later.
Pierzynski estimates he and the pope spoke for about five minutes. Leo excitedly received the baseball, asked about Pierzynski’s family and briefly discussed the ‘05 series, including a lesser-known fact about the championship.
“I said, ‘Hey, you were at Game 1,’” Pierzynski said. “He goes, ‘Well … I was also at Game 2. No one knows, though, cause they didn’t show me on TV.’”
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As their meeting drew to a close, Pierzynski left the pope with a departing comment on the Sox being in first place.
“He just looked at me and smiled and said, ‘Oh, I’ve been paying attention.’”
Asked about the exchange, the Sox in a statement said, “(We) continue to be in awe that Pope Leo XIV shares that same sense of pride for the White Sox as we do.”
Earlier this week, Pierzynski had asked his mother, who still lives in Florida, if she had any pictures of his days as an altar boy or receiving his sacraments. She found one and texted it over the morning of the meeting.
A devout Catholic, Mary Jane Harrelson asked her son ahead of his visit to have the pope pray for her. After losing her husband nine months ago, she said she needed the pope to give her strength.
Harrelson, who heard about the prospective audience about a month ago, was thrilled when she saw the moment come to fruition on Wednesday.
“A.J. has done a lot of things that have made me proud,” she said, “but this tops the cake.”
The Tribune’s Andrew Carter and The Associated Press contributed.