Talking to ‘The Pope’ about the Pope, Caleb Williams, Ben Johnson and White Sox

After the white smoke cleared and the world found out that the pope is not only from the United States but also — and more importantly — from Chicago, there were naturally a lot of important questions.

Is the South Side native a White Sox fan or a Cubs fan? Does he prefer deep dish or tavern-style pizza? Does he have thoughts about Caleb Williams?

Let’s start there with Williams.

“I am excited about (Williams),” The Pope told me in an exclusive phone conversation Thursday afternoon. “I definitely am. I just felt like the Bears haven’t put anybody around him. It’s a problem. You know he had no line at all. He was running for his life all the time.”

Thoughts on new Bears coach Ben Johnson, Pope?

“It seems like they should have a really good coach right now,” he said. “I’m definitely excited about him. He’ll help out with Caleb.”

Yep, our Pope is a real Grabowski. He also loves the White Sox and Lou Malnati’s pizza. And yes, he’s been suffering like the rest of you during this abysmal stretch of local sports.

“It’s definitely been rough to be a Chicago sports fan these days,” said Donn “The Pope” Pall, the former White Sox pitcher and a West suburban Bloomingdale resident.

Did you think I was talking about the other guy? I don’t have his number. But I did get in touch with the original Chicago Pope after the news broke on Thursday.

“I’ve had a couple of people texting me about it, correcting other people who said it’s the first American pope,” Pall told me.

Both are South suburban natives. Pall is from Evergreen Park and Cardinal Robert Prevost was from Dolton.

While Prevost, the first American-born pope, was named Pope Leo XIV by the conclave in Vatican City on Thursday, Pall was anointed “The Pope” by the holy duo of Hawk and Wimpy back in Chicago in the late 1980s.

“I think it was Tom Paciorek when they were giving nicknames to players,” Pall said. “They had Big Hurt, Little Hurt, One Dog. They came up with one for me, The Pope, because Donn Pall sounded like John Paul.”

That would be Pope John Paul II, the head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005.

Meanwhile, Pope Donn Pall pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in the majors from 1988 until he retired in 1998. He had a great career for an Evergreen Park kid who hustled his way onto the University of Illinois roster.

Pall got drafted by his hometown team in the 23rd round in 1985. In six years with the Sox, he appeared in 255 games, going 21-19 with a 3.45 ERA. He was a college kid rooting for the “Winning Ugly” team and then found himself pitching to Carlton Fisk.

“It was the absolute best,” he said. “It was a dream come true to play major-league baseball, period, but to play for your hometown team on top of that, it was unbelievable. The first few years of it, I was living at my parents’ house at home. I think I was the only major leaguer living at home with his parents.”

It wasn’t because he took a papal vow of poverty. Relief pitchers didn’t make a ton of money in those days and he never knew if he’d be sent back down.

Pall, a Catholic who is 100 percent Polish like Pope John Paul II, got a kick out of the nickname, though he said his grandmother wasn’t a huge fan.

“I don’t think she thought that was appropriate,” Pall’s wife, Katie, told me.

Every so often, a fan didn’t, either.

“I got some fan mail as a player and one or two people were ripping into me for proclaiming myself as the pope, that it’s sacrilegious,” he said. “I’m thinking to myself, I’m not going around calling myself the pope. It’s not on my end.”

He did wear a pope costume at a White Sox fantasy camp one time as he participated in a skit about pitchers making a “call to God” after a home run. And when he got married to Katie, the priest got a few laughs out of the name.

“He was a White Sox fan,” Pall said. “And during the ceremony, he said I never thought I’d get a chance to marry the pope. It got a lot of laughter.”

Pall said they heard the Chicago Pope news on the way to a Memorial Park cemetery in Skokie to see Katie’s parents. His folks, Eugene and Irene, called him about it.

“My parents said they read somewhere he’s a Cubs fan,” he said.

I told him I think a lot of people misinterpreted a TV reporter’s joke about the Cubs and Cardinals and it spread so quickly, even the Cubs acknowledged the falsehood. A WGN reporter later interviewed Prevost’s brother, who confirmed the actual pope is a Sox fan.

In honor of the news, the White Sox promptly lost to the Royals 10-0.

“Can he say a few extra prayers?” Katie Pall wondered.

It’s been a rough few years for the franchise, as you might’ve heard.

“To say the least,” Pall said. “It’s really too bad.”

Pall is a White Sox ambassador and he goes to a few events a year, doing things such as having dinner with season-ticket holders or signing autographs at the ballpark. Given how desperate the team is for positive attention these days, I’m guessing they could shoehorn in a Donn Pall Night this summer.

Meet The Pope!

The team loved it when South Sider Barack Obama won the presidency. He wore that Sox hat everywhere. Imagine the pope wearing it in the Vatican? Or rocking a Williams Bears jersey after Mass?

“Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields,” a White Sox statement read. “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.”

In the coming days, you can be sure Chicago news outlets will beat this story into the ground as reporters canvass south suburban Dolton and the pope’s old St. Mary of the Assumption parish for every bit of minutiae they can find.

Though he’s lived abroad for much of his adult life, the new pope studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park and worked in Chicago, including a stint teaching at St. Rita High. He apparently even attended the 2005 World Series, according to a photo acquired by the Sun-Times. It’s mind-blowing to think the pontiff may have strong opinions on Jerry Reinsdorf and Italian Beef sandwiches.

If there’s one thing Chicago loves, it’s a Chicago angle.

Wouldn’t it be something if the pope was a Donn Pall fan?

“We need to find out,” Pall said.

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