Page 221 - 1975 BoSox

JOHNNY PESKY’S CAREER GOT OFF to an unparalleled start, and could have pro- pelled him into the Hall of Fame had World
War II not pulled three prime years out. Pesky set a rookie record with 205 hits his freshman year (1942) but then served in the Navy for the next three years. When he came back, he twice more produced over 200 hits, in the Red Sox pennant-winning year of 1946 and in 1947. Had he managed over 200 hits for each of his three missing years, there is every possibil- ity this lifetime .307 hitter could have made the Hall.
Born John Michael Paveskovich in Portland, Oregon, on February 27, 1919, Johnny Pesky (he changed his name legally in 1947) was the son of Croatian im- migrants. His father, Jakov, never did really understand baseball, but he and Johnny’s mother, Marija, were both supportive of their middle of three sons when he took to hanging around the Portland Beavers ballpark, a few blocks from the family home. Johnny was just one of the kids around the park, but ground- skeeper Rocky Benevento invited him in and put him to work. Before too long, Johnny was one of the visitors’ clubhouse kids — and clearly recalled hanging up the laundry of Paci c Coast League players only a year or two older than himself — players with names like Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr.
Johnny had an older brother, Anthony, a younger brother, Vincent — who spent a little bit of time in the New York Yankees’ system — and three sisters: Anica (Ann), Milica (Millie), and Danica
(Dee). Jakov worked in the sawmills until asthma forced him to retire. e older children took jobs; Vincent was the youngest and Johnny next-to-youngest. ere was enough money coming in that it freed up the two boys to play some baseball.
From an early age, Johnny was doing everything he could to better himself at baseball. e young middle in elder also played American Legion ball, and on a number of city teams in Portland, as well as on some semipro teams. Before he graduated from Lincoln High School in Portland, he spent the summer of 1937 with the Bend Elks in the town of Bend, Oregon, and led the league with a .543 batting average. e team won the state league title. e summers of 1938 and 1939 were spent with the Silverton Red Sox. Both the Bend and Silverton teams were summer-league teams associated with local timber companies. Surprisingly, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey owned the Silver Falls Timber Company, so Johnny was actually with the Red Sox (albeit the Silverton Red Sox) even before Boston’s scout Ernie Johnson signed him.Twice Pesky was part of a Northwest team that went to the semipro tournament in Wichita and competed nationally. e Silverton team won 34 games and lost two, and some- times played exhibition games against touring teams like the House of David aggregation and the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs.
Pesky was o ered $2,500 as a bonus by the St. Louis Cardinals, but signed with Boston for $500, because Johnson had so impressed his parents. ey felt he’d look out for Johnny if he signed with the Red Sox. Johnson had o ered an additional $1,000 if Johnny stayed in the organization for two years. His pay was $150 per month, and the Red Sox sent him the full
thousand after just his rst year.
Johnny’s rst year in pro ball, after signing with Boston, was 1940 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, playing for the Rocky Mount Red Sox of the Piedmont League, under manager Heinie Manush, whom Johnny credited as a major in uence. He hit a club-leading .325. He had 55 runs batted in but, ever the table-setter, scored 114 times. Pesky led the league with 187
Johnny Pesky
By Bill Nowlin
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