Johnny Pesky
| Birthdate | 2/27/1919 |
| Death Date | 8/13/2012 |
| Debut Year | 1942 |
| Year of Induction | |
| Teams | Red Sox, Senators, Tigers |
| Positions | Manager, Second Base, Shortstop, Third Base |
The AL hit leader in each of his first 3 seasons, All Star Johnny Pesky received MVP votes in four different campaigns & spent 73 years in the game.
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Johnny Pesky hit .331 with 205 hits in his rookie season of 1942
Johnny Pesky hit .331 with 205 hits in his rookie season of 1942
Johnny Pesky took the big leagues by storm, banging out a league-leading 205 hits and hitting .331 in his first Major League season. For his efforts, Pesky finished third in MVP voting in 1942.
His next three seasons were spent away from the diamond and in the US Navy. When he returned in 1946, Pesky picked up where he left off, hitting .335 with a .427 on-base percentage and a league-leading 208 hits. The shortstop was in the starting lineup of that season’s All Star game alongside Boston teammates Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio.
Pesky enjoyed a 10-year big league playing career, posting a .307 lifetime average and a .394 career on-base percentage, receiving MVP consideration in four seasons. The former All Star spent the rest of his life with in baseball. In all, Pesky tallied 73 years in the game, 61 of which were with the Boston Red Sox.
His most lasting contribution to the game still stands at Fenway Park. The foul pole along the right field line stands just 302 feet away from home plate.
Former teammate and later Red Sox announcer Mel Parnell told a story about Pesky wrapping a homer around the pole to win the game for Parnell. He called it, “The Pesky Pole”. The name quickly caught on, though a check of the record books suggests the story was a myth.
Of the six career homers that Pesky hit in Fenway, only one came with Parnell on the mound. The Red Sox lost the game in 14 innings. To the millions of baseball fans who are familiar with the Pesky Pole, their love of the pole’s namesake is enough.
In the collection is this signed government postcard, complete with a US Postal Service postmark of August 18, 1948.
Pesky signed this postcard on 8/19/48, the day his Sox played the Athletics
Pesky signed this postcard on 8/19/48, the day his Sox played the Athletics
While one side of the postcard bears the signature of Johnny Pesky, the other side has the US Postal Service’s stamp. This one shows a date of August 19, 1948 with Lynn, Massachusetts – the Boston suburb where Pesky’s wife Ruth was raised – as the location.
Pesky’s Red Sox played host to Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics on this day, before 18,846 at Fenway Park. Coming into the game, the teams were tied for second place three games in back of the eventual world champion Cleveland Indians. Though the Sox lost 10-3, Pesky did his part, reaching base four times after getting hit by a pitch, walking once, and lacing a pair of singles. He also scored two of Boston’s three runs.
Government postcards such as these help in verifying the authenticity of an autograph. It can also elevate the value of an item by virtue of its age. Though Johnny Pesky’s autograph is plentiful, vintage examples from the 1940’s are seen far less often.
