Of his 73 years in the big leagues, 61 were with Boston.
During the 2012 Boston Red Sox home opening weekend, David Ortiz, left, team owner John Henry, second from right, and team president and CEO Larry Lucchino, right, applauded as Johnny Pesky (seated) was honored at Fenway Park. Six days later, Pesky was on hand as the Red Sox celebrated the 100th anniversary of Fenway's opening. Pesky was with the club for 61 of those years including the last 44.His career in baseball spanned more than seven decades, almost all of it with the Boston Red Sox, but it was not simply longevity that made Johnny Pesky an embodiment of all that was good about the franchise itself.
His loyalty, humility and humanity turned a very good ballplayer into an icon, and almost assuredly the most beloved Red Soxer of them all.
Pesky died Monday at 92. His passing leaves double play partner Bobby Doerr, the second baseman on Boston's 1940s powerhouses, and pitcher Dave "Boo" Ferriss, 90, as the last living stars of the 1946 American League championship team.
Doerr, 94, and Pesky appeared at Fenway Park in April as part of the club's celebration of the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. Pesky was an indelible part of Fenway for most of that century.
He spent 61 of his 73 big league seasons with the Red Sox. His array of capacities ranged from infielder to manager, and from broadcaster to coach.
He even sold advertising during a career that began in his rookie year of 1942, when Pesky's 205 hits established a Red Sox rookie record that stood for 55 years.
Pesky's most suitable title, though, was "ambassador.'' He did not need a formal title to meet and greet the vast array of fans who made up Red Sox Nation - a term that itself did not exist until long after this native of Portland, Oregon had first arrived in Boston.
"The national pastime has lost one of its greatest ambassadors today,'' baseball commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
"Johnny Pesky, who led a great American life, was an embodiment of loyalty and good will for the Boston Red Sox and all of Major League Baseball.''
"We have lost a dear and beloved friend. Johnny was happiest when wearing a Red Sox uniform,'' said John Henry, the team's principal owner.
"He was the grandfather of the Red Sox. His stories were delightful ... we know those stories, and his spirit, will continue to live on at Fenway Park,'' Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said.
"We extend our sympathies to his son, David, his daughter-in-law, Alison, and all members of the Pesky family.''
Modern fans knew Pesky as the human face of Red Sox history, a steady presence at Fenway until the final two years of his life, when the frailties of age caused his appearances to become infrequent.
Older fans knew him in a different way. Had Pesky not missed the seasons from 1943 through 1945 for military service during World War II, he might have built a case for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Born John Michael Paveskovich, and signed by the Red Sox as a free agent in 1940, he hit .307 in a big league career that lasted until 1954.
A left-handed hitting shortstop, Pesky belted only 17 home runs in a 1,270-game career that ended with stops in Detroit from 1952-54, and Washington toward the end of the 1954 season.
That did not stop Fenway's inviting right-field foul pole from being designated "Pesky's Pole.'' According to legend, Pesky won a 1948 game for pitcher Mel Parnell by curling a 305-foot home run down the line.
Records indicate his only home run in a Parnell game came in 1950, in a game Boston lost. Nonetheless, the name became a part of modern Fenway Park lexicon long after he retired.
Eventually, the Red Sox formally named the pole for Pesky. In 2008, they also retired his No. 6 jersey, one of only seven uniform numbers (not including Jackie Robinson's universally retired 42) the Red Sox have retired.
When the Red Sox raised the 2004 World Series championship flag at its 2005 home opener, Pesky was the club's featured representative at its pinnacle moment. It was Boston's first title since 1918, the year before Pesky was born.
For as much as Pesky's presence evoked nostalgic memories for Red Sox fans, the players of generations who followed his own were most appreciative and impressed at his ability to remain current, and his willingness to teach.
Jim Rice said Pesky spent countless hours, working not only with the young slugger's hitting but helping him learn the outfield. Nomar Garciaparra was devoted to Pesky, not just as a father figure but as a former shortstop who was a source of baseball knowledge and expertise.
Pesky led the American League in hits in his first three seasons. In each of them, he topped the 200-hit mark at a time teams played only 154 games.
Pesky's 205 hits in 1942, a year that saw him hit .331, stood as a Red Sox rookie record until Nomar Garciaparra surpassed it in 1997. Pesky finished third in the 1942 American League MVP vote.
It was his only season before leaving for war. He returned to collect 208 hits in 1946, his only All-Star season, and 207 the following year.
For all his talent and production, Pesky's career did not at first suggest he would become the man who would touch the hearts of Red Sox fans in a way that even greater players, including his close friend Ted Williams and later Carl Yastrzemski, could not.
Forty years before Bill Buckner's infamous moment, Pesky was the relay man when St. Louis Cardinals' outfielder Enos Slaughter scored the winning run in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series.
It has been widely accepted for decades that Pesky handled the play efficiently, but that Slaughter simply outraced the throw. If any mistakes were made by the Red Sox defense, it is believed they were made in the outfield.
Pesky never became embittered by the infamy of the play. Rather, he accepted it as part of the game he loved - a price for playing in the passionate Boston baseball atmosphere.
It was that unmistakeable decency, along with an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball and the skill at passing it on, that ultimately endeared Pesky to the Red Sox and their following.
He became Red Sox manager in 1963, at a time the club's talent level had dipped to its lowest level in the postwar era. Pesky's managing record was 146-175 in 1963 and '64.
In 1965, the year after Pesky left, the Red Sox lost 100 games under Billy Herman, his successor.
After managing in Boston, Pesky spent several years in the Pittsburgh organization before rejoining the Red Sox franchise as a broadcaster in 1969.
His timeline with the organization remained unbroken that point until his death, a span of 44 years. Late in the 1980 season, the Red Sox replaced Don Zimmer and Pesky returned for a brief, five-game stint as interim manager.
Pesky's friendship with 1946 teammates Doerr, Williams and Dom DiMaggio was the focus of author David Halberstam's 2003 book, "The Teammates.''
It is considered one of the highest baseball journals in modern history and probably of all time. Williams died in 2002, with DiMaggio passing on in 2009.
The passing of Pesky, while not unexpected given his age and failing health, nonetheless adds another layer of sadness to a Red Sox season that has been difficult on and off the field.
Parnell died on March 20. On May 9, public address announcer Carl Beane died after suffering a heart attack while driving.