Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story [Hardcover]

Bill Nowlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2004

Mr. Red Sox is the first biography of Pesky ever published. With a baseball career spanning eight decades, Johnny has been clubhouse kid, major league shortstop with stats better than several Hall of Famers, coach, manager, broadcaster and a special evaluator of talent. At age 84, he is still in uniform, in the clubhouse and out on the field before every Red Sox home game. This book illuminates one of the most interesting lives in baseball in the twentieth century.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 388 pages
• Publisher: Rounder Books (January 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579400884
• ISBN-13: 978-1579400880
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,544,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of more than 30 Red Sox-related books and an avid reader of baseball, travel, and mystery books.

Co-founder of Rounder Records, America's most active independent record label specializing in roots music - now celebrating our 41st year!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr Red Sox Indeed!, June 6, 2004

By 

Ted Brooks (Capitola, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story (Hardcover)

You don't have to be a Red Sox fan to enjoy this book. Not only is this a great history of Johnny Pesky and the Red Sox but it also gives a nice insight into what it was like to be an American male during the WWII period. The book starts with a nostalgic look at life in the Croatian immigrant neighborhood where Paveskovich family lived in Portland, Or, and follows Pesky's career as a player, a member of navy, a coach, and a manager. There are great stories told by Pesky and others, a fine historical perspective, actual accounts of games of note, and the real lowdown on "Pesky's Pole" and the infamous play that ended the 1946 World Series. And then there's the foreword written by Pesky's team mate Ted Williams calling for Hall of Fame consideration for Pesky. You still see the enthusiastic octogenerian Johnny Pesky on the field before every Red Sox game at Fenway with his fungo bat, delightful grin and his obvious love for the game of baseball and the Boston Red Sox. I recommend this book very highly to every baseball fan. Johnny Pesky truly is "Mr. Red Sox" and this is a fitting tribute to him. If you are a Red Sox fan, this book belongs on your shelf.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. RED SOX by the Associated Press, June 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story (Hardcover)

By MARK PRATT, Associated Press Writer
April 8, 2004

BOSTON (AP) -- Johnny Pesky is the common thread that ties together more than six decades of hope and heartbreak for the Boston Red Sox.

Pesky, 84, will be at spruced-up Fenway Park on Friday when the team opens its home schedule against the Toronto Blue Jays, and like all Red Sox fans, he's sure this is the year they'll win it all for the first time since 1918.

``Of course, I thought last year we were going to do it too,'' said Pesky, who has been a player, manager, broadcaster, and now a special instructor in the organization. ``We've helped ourselves in a couple of ways, especially on the mound and in the bullpen.''

The Red Sox return most of a record-setting batting order, and strengthened their pitching with the acquisitions of Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke.

Pesky is the subject of a new book, ``Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story,'' by Bill Nowlin.

``Johnny is kind of an underappreciated ballplayer,'' said Nowlin, who has written a number of books on Pesky's former teammate Ted Williams. ``He is kind of like a goodwill ambassador for the Red Sox now. He'll talk to anybody and everybody and he's so humble. He loves to interact with the fans.''

And he loves to interact with the players. Spry, and in better shape than many men half his age, Pesky still hits grounders to today's superstars, teaching them the finer points of hitting and fielding.

Pesky's history with the team dates to 1939. Before the days of the amateur draft, a Red Sox scout wooed Pesky's mother with flowers and his father with fine bourbon. His parents, immigrants from what is now Croatia, didn't understand baseball, but they did feel the Red Sox were the best fit for their son even though other major league teams offered more money.

They were right.

John Michael Paveskovich, an Oregon native, played two years in the Red Sox minor league system before making his major league debut in 1942. That season he set the team record for hits by a rookie with 205, a mark that stood until 1997 when fellow shortstop Nomar Garciaparra had 209.

He spent three years in the Navy during World War II, although he did not see combat, before resuming his playing career. He was with the Red Sox through 1952 before being traded to the Detroit Tigers.

He spent two years with the Tigers before starting a coaching career that included a two-year stint as Red Sox manager in 1963 and 1964. He came back to the Red Sox in 1969 and has been with the team ever since.

``I've had a good life with the ballclub,'' Pesky said. ``I just try to help out. I understand the game, I've been around the ballpark my whole life.''

Nowlin got the idea for a book about Pesky from Elizabeth Dooley, a longtime Red Sox season-ticket holder, whom he interviewed extensively for his books on Williams.

``He asked me about doing it and I said 'It won't sell,' but he said he was going to go ahead anyway,'' Pesky said.

Nowlin conducted hundreds of interviews for the book, which includes some interesting tidbits, including the fact that Pesky was a disc jockey for a Boston radio station, spinning ballroom tunes.

``In those years, ball players had to have jobs in the offseason,'' Nowlin said.

The book, published March 31, is already in its third printing, Nowlin said. He and Pesky would set up a table outside the souvenir shop at the team's spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla., and sell 75 to 100 copies a day, Pesky gladly autographing every copy and posing for pictures with fans.

Pesky is still going strong with no firm plans to retire.

``I've been saying if we get in and win the World Series I might retire, but my health has been pretty good,'' Pesky said.

Either way, Pesky's legacy with the team is set in stone.

5.0 out of 5 stars View of Players of the Past, October 24, 2010

By 

Northeast Reader - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story (Hardcover)

This is a trip back to my younger days. After finding the book on Ted "Mr. Baseball" Williams at the Williams Museum at Tropicana Field I noticed a write up on Mr Pesky and his book. Having seen both of these fellas play I just couldn't resist. It brings back memories of White, Dropo, Goodman, DiMaggio, Parnell, Tebbetts, Sain, Kinder as well as others that I can not remember right off. The book is an easy read and I suggest it to anyone that is a member of Red Sox Nation. I plan to have it with me at spring training next year. Mr Pesky is at each home game and I hope to have him sign it. The new spring training ballpark will be a smaller version of Fenway Park so there should be a Pesky Pole in right field. Thank you Johnny for a trip back to when playing ball was fun.Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story