Johnny Pesky centerpiece of new baseball exhibit

SWAMPSCOTT – Science and baseball go together like hand in glove in a new upcoming Museum of Science exhibit featuring Swampscott resident Johnny Pesky, affectionately known as “Mr. Red Sox” to millions of fans.Television crews from the Museum of Science were at Pesky’s Swampscott home recently where they filmed him telling a couple of his favorite baseball stories for an upcoming project.Pesky told The Daily Item he considers himself privileged to have had the opportunity to play with some the greatest ballplayers who ever lived.”Ted Williams is the greatest hitter that ever lived,” he said. “Joe DiMaggio and second baseman Bobby Doerr were great players. Some of my fondest memories are playing with those guys.”Mike Morrison, who is with the Museum of Science media relations department, was one of the people who met with Pesky last week.”The first story he told was about opening day in 1946,” Morrison said. “He hit a home run and it put the team ahead. He thought it was funny because he was known more as a singles hitter. He said there was a funny incident in the clubhouse afterwards and Ted Williams was razzing him.”Morrison said Pesky also spoke at length about how emotional the 2004 World Series win was.”He walked us through what it was like to be in the clubhouse that day,” he said. “He talked about how emotional everyone was.”From June 15 through Sept. 1, The Museum of Science will be the temporary home of “Baseball As America,” an exhibit produced by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.Morrison said the traveling exhibition celebrates the game through more than 500 artifacts from the Cooperstown collection, including items that date back more than 150 years.On display will be the “Green Light” letter, written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to baseball commissioner Kenesaw Landis on Jan. 15, 1942, in which he encourages the commissioner to keep baseball going during World War II. It also includes the T206 Honus Wagner card of 1909 – one of the game’s most prized baseball cards – and the first baseball pitched by Cy Young in the first World Series in 1903.Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said baseball is ingrained in American culture.”Baseball and America have grown up together. In fact, the game is such an integral part of our culture that we often take for granted its deep day-to-day significance in our lives,” she said. “In bringing this exhibition to people across the country, it is our hope that we can learn more about ourselves as a people who possess a shared set of values, as reflected in our national game.”Morrison pointed out a special Boston case will feature a number of items specific to Red Sox achievements, including a baseball pitched by Boston’s Roger Clemens on April 29, 1986 when he struck out a record 20 batters in one game, and a Ted Williams-brand fishing tackle bobber, manufactured by Sears & Roebuck, c. 1963.Morrison said the Museum of Science would be supplementing the exhibit with film clips, including those shot at Pesky’s home, and exhibits highlighting the science and technology behind America’s pastime.”Visitors to the exhibit in Boston can also explore innovations behind the game today and how it’s changed through the years – from advancements in batting equipment to new technology used to call pitches,” he said.Morrison added “Baseball As America” has a successful track record for bringing luck to baseball teams.”In almost every location where the exhibit has shown since 2002, the hosting city’s baseball teams have gone on to the postseason or World Series,” he said. “The Red Sox were in the playoffs this year and having “Baseball As America” in Boston for 2008 could mean a good season for the team next year too. “Pesky said with or without the traveling exhibition, he believes the Red Sox have a great shot at making it to postseason play and into the World Series again this year.”We’re all praying we