johnny pesky

Former Red Sox player and manager has died at the age of 92. Johnny Pesky played for the Red Sox from 1940-62 and managed the club in the 1963-64 seasons, as well as in the late going of the 1980 season on an interim basis. Pesky didn't have much power, but was a master at getting on base. He led the American League in base hits three times and has a career .307 batting average. Fenway Park, in sunny Boston, Mass, have named the right field foul pole after him  (Pesky's pole) due to the fact that he hit so few home runs (six of them in his career at Fenway), that when he did they barely cleared the right field wall, near the pole, since this was the shortest distance to hit a home run in the park. After Boston, Johnny played two seasons with the Tigers and Senators before retiring in 1952. Pesky started his coaching/managerial career in 1955 with the (ironically) New York Yankees Triple A affiliate in Denver, before moving to Detroit's farm system, managing their Birmingham and Seattle minor league clubs. After two winning seasons in Seattle, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey had Pesky pegged for the vacant managerial position, which had been opened up by Yawkey promoting manager Pinky Higgies to GM. After managing the team for two seasons with ok but forgettable results, he went to the Pirates for four seasons serving as first base coach under manager Harry Walker. But, he wound up back in Boston in 1968 as a color commentator for the Red Sox television crew. He turned down a lucrative offer from former Red Sox star-turned Washington Senators manager Ted Williams to be one of his coaches, but he chose to stay in Boston and continued to do the Red Sox telecasts until 1974. Before the start of the 1975 season, Pesky was made a coach again, manning first base, much like his time in Pittsburgh. His first season back as a coach, the Red Sox were American League Champions (but lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in seven games). In his later years, Pesky has been at every major Red Sox event it seems. He sat in the dugout a few times (Baltimore filed a complaint to the MLB), raised the World Series 2004 banner, and in 2008 the Red Sox retired his number 6. A great man who will be missed by all within the baseball community. 

Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky

Big Papi David Ortiz & Pesky

Pesky & Dustin Pedroia

JOHNNY PESKY 1919-2012