Pesky's Pole
Encyclopedia
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
, home of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. It is named after Johnny Pesky
Johnny Pesky
John Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War...
, who played second base, shortstop and third base for the Red Sox from 1942 to 1952, except for 1943-45 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The pole sits only 302 feet (92 meters) away from home plate. Like the measurement of the left-field line at Fenway Park, this has been disputed. Aerial shots show it to be noticeably shorter than the (actual) 302 foot line in right, and Pesky himself has been quoted as estimating it to be "around 295 feet."
According to Pesky, former teammate and Sox broadcaster Mel Parnell
Mel Parnell
Melvin Lloyd Parnell is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox , compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games...
named the pole after Pesky won a game for Parnell in with a home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
down the short right field line, just around the pole. However, Pesky hit just one home run in a game pitched by Parnell, a two-run shot in the first inning of a game against Detroit played on June 11, 1950. The game was eventually won by the visiting Tigers in the 14th inning on a three-run shot by Tigers right fielder Vic Wertz and Parnell earned a no-decision that day.
Pesky was a slap hitter
Contact hitter
In baseball, the term contact hitter is used to describe a hitter who does not strike out often. Thus, they are usually able to use their bats to make contact with the ball and put it in play...
who hit just 17 home runs in his career (6 at Fenway Park). It's not known how many of these six actually landed near the pole.
The term, though it had been in use since the 1950s, became far more common when Parnell became a Red Sox broadcaster in 1965.
On September 27, 2006, on Pesky's 87th birthday, the Red Sox organization officially dedicated the right field foul pole as Pesky's Pole with a commemorative plaque placed at its base.
The seat directly on the foul side of Pesky's Pole in the front row is Section 94, Row E, Seat 5 and is usually sold as a lone ticket.