BOSTON — Adored by generations of Red Sox fans, Johnny Pesky was so much a part of Boston baseball that the right-field foul pole at Fenway Park was named for him.
Pesky, who played, managed and served as a broadcaster for the Red Sox in a baseball career that lasted more than 60 years, died yesterday. He was 92.
Born John Michael Paveskovich in Portland, Ore., he died just more than a week after his final visit to Fenway, on Aug. 5 when Boston beat the Twins 6-4.
Yet for many in the legion of Red Sox fans, their last image of Pesky will be from the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park on April 20, when the man known for his warmth, kindness and outstanding baseball career was moved to tears at a pregame ceremony. By then the former shortstop was in a wheelchair positioned at second base, surrounded by dozens of admiring former players and a cheering crowd.
“You couldn’t do anything without Johnny Pesky,” said ex-pitcher Pedro Martinez.
It was at another ceremony less than six years earlier that Pesky’s name was officially inscribed in the rich history of the Red Sox and their home, a fitting tribute to a career .307 hitter and longtime teammate and friend of Ted Williams.
On his 87th birthday, Sept. 27, 2006, a plaque was unveiled at the base of the foul pole just 302 feet from home plate, designating it “Pesky’s Pole.”
The term was coined by former Red Sox pitcher Mel Parnell, who during a broadcast in the 1950s recalled Pesky winning a game for him with a home run around the pole. From there, a legend seemed to grow that Pesky frequently curled shots that way — actually, only six of his 17 career home runs came at Fenway.
In fact, team records show that Pesky never hit a home run at Fenway in which Parnell was the winning pitcher. Still, Pesky’s spot in the hearts of Red Sox players and fans alike is indisputable.
Even though Pesky was a fan favorite, he still had his own place of notoriety in Boston’s drought of 86 years without a championship. He was long blamed for holding the ball on a key relay in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series when Enos Slaughter made his famous “Mad Dash” from first base to score the winning run for the Cardinals against the Red Sox.
“In my heart, I know I didn’t hold the ball,” Pesky once said.
Pesky died at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, Mass., according to Solimine, Landergan and Richardson funeral home in Lynn, Mass. The funeral home did not announce a cause of death. Pesky spent two years with the Tigers and Senators before starting a coaching career that included a two-year stint as Red Sox manager in 1963 and 1964. He came back to the Red Sox in 1969 and stayed there, even filling in as interim manager in 1980 after the club fired Don Zimmer.
“I’ve had a good life with the ballclub,” Pesky told the AP in 2004. “I just try to help out. I understand the game, I’ve been around the ballpark my whole life.”