Pesky’s Pole in right field at Fenway Park.
Fenway Park will undergo another series of renovations this offseason, and this time, those updates include replacing one of the park’s most iconic pieces.
Pesky’s Pole, named after Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky, will be taken down and replaced with a newer, sturdier version during the winter, according to the Boston Landmark Commission.
The pole won’t look much different than the current one that stands in right field, though it will be replaced with one that lacks the years of dents and scribbles of fans from throughout the years.
The pole was named in honor of Pesky, who was a longtime resident of the North Shore, having lived in Lynn and later Swampscott. Pesky spent eight seasons of his 10-year major league career with the Red Sox. He was associated with the Red Sox for 61 of his 73 years in baseball, spending time as a manager, coach, color commentator and instructor.
Pesky hit just 17 home runs in the major leagues, six of them coming at Fenway Park. The name Pesky’s Pole was coined by former Red Sox lefty Mel Parnell, who was pitching in a game in the late 1940s when Pesky hit a late-inning home run that hooked around the pole. Parnell spent time as the Red Sox radio and television broadcaster in the 1960s, and spread the nickname, which caught on. On Sept. 27, 2006, Pesky’s 87th birthday, the pole was officially named in his honor.
A plaque below the pole reads “A landmark of Fenway Park originally intended by Mel Parnell to kindly tease about the relatively short distance of his teammate’s home runs. The significance of the name grew with the affection accorded by generations of fans over seven decades who were beneficiaries of his enduring kindness and admirers of his unwavering loyalty.”
