| SIGNER: Johnny Pesky APPROXIMATE SIZE: 8-1/2"x11" MARKS / STAMPING: Handwritten letter and signature by Johnny Pesky. ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Original COMMENTS / CONDITION: As with all of my signed items, the signature is guaranteed to pass further inspection by any major authenticator, or your money back. See scans for conition and signature quality. BIO: John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich) was born in 1919 in Portland, OR and died in 2012 in Danvers, MA. He played major league baseball from 1942 to 1954 as infielder for the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators, appeared in the 1946 World Series, and was selected in 1946 as an All-Star. Johnny Pesky's biography is Mr. Red Sox by Bill Nowlin, published by Rounder Books. Pesky has been associated with the Boston Red Sox for 57 of his 69 years in baseball – from 1940 through June 3, 1952; 1961 through 1964; and continuously since 1969. He was their manager in 1963-1964, and in September 1980. In honor of Pesky, the right field foul pole at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, is known as Pesky's Pole, or the Pesky Pole. Former teammate and Sox broadcaster Mel Parnell named the pole after Pesky. The story goes that Pesky won a game for Parnell in 1948 with a home run down the short (302 feet/92m) right field line, just around the pole. Being that Pesky was a contact hitter who hit only 17 home runs -- six of them at Fenway Park -- in 4,745 at bats in the major leagues, it's quite possible that the home runs he hit there landed in close proximity to the pole. Although he is an icon as "Mr. Red Sox," Pesky actually began his coaching career in the New York Yankees organization with the 1955 Denver Bears of the AAA American Association — working under manager Ralph Houk. From 1956-60, Pesky was a manager in the Detroit farm system, reaching the AA level. He then rejoined the Red Sox in 1961 as manager of their AAA farm club, the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. SKU: L14063
Item: L14063
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