Johnny Pesky

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Johnny Pesky
Johnny Pesky.jpg
Shortstop , third baseman , manager
Born: September 27, 1919
Portland , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Died on: August 13, 2012
Danvers , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Suggested: Left Threw: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
April 14,  1942  with the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB assignment
  With the Washington Senators on September 24, 1954
MLB statistics
(until end of career)
Batting average    , 307
Hits    1,455
RBI    404
Teams

As a player

As a manager

Awards

John Michael "Johnny" Pesky (born September 27, 1919 in Portland , Oregon as John Michael Paveskovich ; † August 13, 2012 in Danvers , Massachusetts ), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox, “was an American baseball player of Croatian descent in Major League Baseball . He was a shortstop , third baseman and manager .

Life

Pesky's parents were immigrants from Austria-Hungary who settled in Portland , Oregon . His father worked in a sawmill . Pesky was born John Michael Paveskovich in Portland in 1919. His name was often shortened to fit in result tables. Later he also had it officially changed.

He was married, his wife Ruth died in 2005. Pesky died on August 13, 2012 at the age of 92 in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Career

As a player

After Pesky stayed in several previous farm team of the Boston Red Sox had played, he was in the season 1942 was appointed to the senior squad. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) this season behind the New York Yankees and narrowly missed the World Series . Pesky himself played a strong rookie season and had the second best batting average in the American League at .331 . In addition, he came in third place behind Joe Gordon and Ted Williams in the choice of MVP .

After that season he went to war for the USA and continued his career on his return in 1946. With the Red Sox, he reached first place in the regular season of the AL and thus the World Series in the first year after his return . There the Red Sox met the St. Louis Cardinals from the National League (NL) and lost the best-of-seven series against them with 3: 4 games. Pesky played an important role in the seventh and decisive game of the series. When the score was 3: 3 in the eighth inning , the ball was hit by Harry Walker while Enos Slaughter was at first base. Leon Culberson , center fielder the Red Sox had the ball and threw it to Pesky. He had to throw the ball to catcher Roy Partee . However, he threw too slowly and too weakly, which is why Slaughter was able to reach home base and thus score the decisive point. Therefore Pesky could not crown his comeback season, in which he even led the MLB in hits , with the championship.

After this season Pesky could no longer reach the postseason with the Red Sox , but was still one of the top performers of the team. In the 1952 season, the Red Sox got a new manager , Lou Boudreau , who increasingly relied on young players, which is why Pesky was sent to the Tigers along with Walt Dropo , Fred Hatfield , Don Lenhardt and Bill Wight . With the Tigers Pesky no longer played as strong and in 1954 moved to the Washington Senators . There, too, he could no longer build on his old form and was released by the club after the season.

As a manager

Pesky began his career as a coach in 1955 with the Denver Bears , the then farm team of the New York Yankees , in the American Association , a then AAA-level minor league and worked there under manager Ralph Houk . From 1956 to 1960 he was a manager in the " farm system " of the Detroit Tigers and reached AA level with the Birmingham Barons and the Victoria Rosebuds . In 1961 he rejoined the Red Sox and coached the Seattle Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League at AAA level .

When Tom Yawkey promoted the then manager of the Red Sox Pinky Higgins to general manager in 1962 , Pesky was appointed the new manager of the Red Sox. During his time as a manager, he repeatedly had arguments with the newly signed Dick Stuart , although in 1963 he even led the American League in RBIs . Otherwise he had little success as manager of the Red Sox and was seventh in the American League in his first season with a record of 76:85. In his second season as manager, he was finally replaced by Billy Herman just before the end of the season .

He then left the Red Sox for four seasons and joined the Pittsburgh Pirates . From 1965 to 1967 he worked there under manager Harry Walker as first base coach. After Walker was fired in 1967, he trained the Pirates' AAA-level farm team, the Columbus Jets , in the International League .

Boston Red Sox

In 1968 Pesky returned to the Red Sox and was active as a color commentator on games of the Red Sox on television and radio. Shortly after he took the job, former teammate Ted Williams , who was named the Washington Senators ' new manager , offered him a job in the Senators' bench. But Pesky refused and stayed in Boston. Together with Ken Coleman and Ned Martin he worked for WHDH Radio and WCVB-TV and later only for WBZ-TV with Coleman. He later worked on the radio as an analyst with Joe Castiglione .

Under manager Darrell Johnson , he rejoined the active Red Sox team in 1975 as first base coach. With Pesky as first base coach, the Red Sox finished first in the American League East and won the American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics . The World Series finally lost the Red Sox against the Cincinnati Reds 3: 4. Pesky remained first base coach under Johnson and also under his successor Don Zimmer , before he converted to batting coach in 1980. Under Don Zimmer, the team was less successful than before and Zimmer was sacked five games before the end of the season. Pesky, who was then appointed interim coach, lost four of their last five games and the Red Sox finished fifth in the American League.

Pesky shows the ring of the 2007 World Series

For the new season, an old friend of Pesky, Ralph Houk, was appointed manager and he took the post of batting coach again. There he trained Jim Rice, among others . He completely missed the 1983 season because of a serious food allergy that resulted in weight loss. After this was discovered, he was able to continue working as a batting coach. In 1990, at the age of 71, after Ed Nottle's dismissal, he was again coach of the AAA-level farm team of the Red Sox, the Pawtucket Red Sox, for 2½ months .

Since 1991 Pesky has always sat on the bench at the Red Sox games. He played an important role in the ceremony in which the championship rings were handed over to win the 2004 World Series and, with the help of Carl Yastrzemski, was allowed to hang the championship banner in Fenway Park . He was also allowed to hang up the banner to win the World Series 2007 . On September 23, 2008, the Red Sox announced that Pesky was withdrawing the number 6. This made him the first player to be awarded this honor who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame . On September 28th, his number was officially withdrawn with a ceremony. Pesky is also a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame .

Pesky's Pole

Pesky's Pole

The foul pole , which is near the position of the right fielder , is called the Pesky's Pole in Fenway Park . The nickname for the Pole is said to have been invented by his teammate at the time, Mel Parnell , as Pesky scored the game-winning point after hitting the ball over the fence near the pole. With Pesky only getting 17 home runs in his entire career, that was something special and the reason Parnell came up with the name. The name became more popular after Parnell became a commentator and always called it that. On Pesky's 87th birthday, on September 27, 2006, the Red Sox announced that the Pole is now officially called Pesky's Pole.

The seat that is directly on the pole (block 94, row E, seat 5) can only be occupied by purchasing a single ticket.

literature

Web links

Commons : Johnny Pesky  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Richard Goldstein: Johnny Pesky, Red Sox Fixture, Dies at 92. In: The New York Times . August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2012 .
  2. ↑ http://www.bridica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/34103157/Bench-Coaches-More-Than-Just-A-Side-Job
personal data
SURNAME Pesky, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paveskovich, John Michael (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Portland , Oregon
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 2012
Place of death Danvers , Massachusetts