Number 6 and the Babe, Interesting Connection…..

Johnny Pesky 1919-2012…..

Last night Fenway Park, the Red Sox and the Fenway Faithful honored Johnny Pesky one day after he was laid to rest next to Ruthie in Swampscott.

Red Sox honor Johnny Pesky

Everyone was adorned in appropriate attire.

Even Fenway.

Boston Red Sox players

Number 6 takes the field.

Fenway

Appropriately enough, the Angels were on hand last night as well.

David Pesky David Pesky, son of former Red Sox player Johnny Pesky, who recently died, throws out the first pitch before a game with the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park on August 21, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Johnny’s son David threw out the first pitch after being escorted to the mound by former Red Sox second baseman, Jerry Remy.

David Ortiz caught the first pitch.

The Red Sox are 112 years old, Fenway Park is 100 and Johnny left us at 92. His Fenway legacy will be forever displayed inside the park and out.

His number six will forevermore keep vigil over the foul pole which forevermore bears his name.

“Pesky’s Pole”, my Daddy told me about that when I was eight years old and Johnny was managing the Red Sox.

He played with Ted (9) and Joe (4) and Bobby (1). He managed Yaz (8) and he coached Pudge (27) and Jim (14). In fact Jim said he was the best hitting coach he ever had. Imagine that, a Hall of Fame power hitter saying the guy who hit as many home runs in his career (17) as the power hitter hit in a half season was the best hitting coach he ever had!

He is forevermore enbronzed outside the park with Ted and Bobby and Domenic, his best buddies for nearly three-quarters of a century.

The Teammates.

The year that Johnny Pesky was born was the year Babe Ruth played his last season in a Red Sox uniform. And in fact on September 27, 1919, the day that Johnny Pesky was born, Babe Ruth played his last game in a Red Sox uniform.

Babe Ruth and wife Helen in ceremonies at Fenway Park in September of 1919, honoring Babe for breaking the single season home run record. He hit 29 that year.

The Red Sox were in Washington for a double-header. Babe had but one hit in that double-header loss and it came in the third inning of the first game and it was a home run, number 29 on the season, a new major league record! It was a record he held until 1961.

Countless words have been scribed in an attempt to capture the essence of this wonderful man and what he meant to the Red Sox, the ballpark, the Fenway Faithful, the game itself and indeed the nation. It is often futile to grasp and I suppose that’s why there are poets. However, I think that Johnny’s words best encapsulate it all. In an interview with Boston radio station WBUR back in 2003 he said simply,

“Dominic…. Bobby…. Me and Teddy. You know, we were known as the big four from the west coast, we were the rabble rousers. But we had a great love for the game of baseball and for each other.”

And we love him! Yup…………. It’s all about relationships!

Goodnight Johnny, rest easy, for God knows you’ve earned it.

And so it is on this day in Fenway Park history, August 22, 2012, Happy Birthday Yaz!

About fenwaypark100

Hello and welcome, my name is Raymond Sinibaldi. An educator for more than two decades, a baseball fan for nearly 60 years, I have authored four books about baseball and her glorious history; with a fifth on the way in late spring of 2015; the first, The Babe in Red Stockings which was co-authored with Kerry Keene and David Hickey. It is a chronicle of Babe's days with the Red Sox. We also penned a screenplay about Babe's Red Sox days so if any of you are Hollywood inclined or would like to represent us in forwarding that effort feel free to contact me through my email. In 2012 we three amigos published Images of Fenway Park in honor of the 100th birthday of Fenway Park. That led to the creation of this blog. The following year, 2013 came my first solo venture, Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota. This is a pictorial history of spring training in those two Florida cities. The spring of 2014 brought forth the 1967 Red Sox, The Impossible Dream Season. The title speaks for itself and it also is a pictorial history. Many of the photos in this book were never published before. The spring of 2015 will bring 1975 Red Sox, American League Champions. Another pictorial effort, this will be about the Red Sox championship season of 1975 and the World Series that restored baseball in America. I was fortunate enough to consult with sculptor Franc Talarico on the “Jimmy Fund” statue of Ted Williams which stands outside both Fenway Park and Jet Blue Park Fenway South, in Fort Myers Florida. That story is contained in the near 300 posts which are contained herein. This blog has been dormant for awhile but 2015 will bring it back to life so jump on board, pass the word and feel free to contact me about anything you read or ideas you may have for a topic. Thanks for stopping by, poke around and enjoy. Autographed copies of all my books are available here, simply click on Raymond Sinibaldi and email me.

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