Johnny
Pesky
 
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 5' 9''
Weight: 173
 
Born: September 27, 1919 in Usa, OR, PORTLAND
 
Awards & Accomplishments
Bronze Rookie 1942   
Gold Glove 1944    1947    1948    1949    1954   
All-Star Selections 1946    1947    1950   
Ratings - Batting     Help
                                             
  Contact Power Gap Eye Ks
Year Age Tm Lg Salary   vL vR OA vL vR OA vL vR OA vL vR OA vL vR OA
1942 22 TAM AL $ 300,000   10 10 9 1 1 1 6 8 7 3 4 4 10 10 10
1943 23 TAM AL $ 300,000   10 10 9 1 1 1 6 8 7 3 4 3 9 10 10
1944 24 TAM AL $ 300,000   10 10 9 1 1 1 7 8 8 3 4 3 10 10 10
1945 25 BSN NL $ 300,000   10 10 9 2 2 2 7 9 8 3 4 3 10 10 10
1946 26 BSN NL $ 2,664,286   10 10 9 2 2 2 7 8 8 3 4 3 10 10 10
1947 27 BSN NL $ 2,807,143   10 10 9 2 2 2 7 8 8 3 4 3 9 10 10
1948 28 BSN NL $ 2,985,714   9 9 8 2 2 2 6 7 7 3 4 4 9 10 10
1949 29 MIN AL $ 5,000,000   10 10 9 2 2 2 6 7 7 3 4 4 9 10 10
1950 30 MIN AL $ 5,000,000   9 9 8 2 2 2 6 7 7 3 4 4 10 10 10
1951 31 MIN AL $ 5,000,000   9 9 8 2 2 2 6 7 7 3 4 4 9 10 9
1952 32 MIN AL $ 5,000,000   9 9 8 2 2 2 6 7 7 3 4 4 9 10 10
1953 33 MIN AL $ 2,250,000   9 9 8 2 2 2 6 7 7 3 4 4 9 10 10
1954 34 MIN AL $ 2,250,000   8 8 7 2 2 2 5 7 6 3 4 4 10 10 10
1955 35 MIN AL $ 2,250,000   8 8 7 2 2 2 5 6 6 3 4 4 9 9 9
1956 36 STL NL $ 1,750,000   8 8 7 2 2 2 4 5 5 3 4 4 8 9 9
1957 37 STL NL $ 1,750,000   7 7 6 2 2 2 3 5 4 3 4 4 8 8 8
1958 38 STL NL $ 1,750,000   4 4 4 2 2 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 5 6 6
1959 39 STL NL $ 1,750,000   2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 3 3
OOTP6 Min Ratings $ 300,000   2 2 2 1 1 1 3 4 4 3 4 3 3 3 3
OOTP6 Max Ratings $ 5,000,000   10 10 9 2 2 2 7 9 8 3 4 4 10 10 10
Batting Stats     Help
Bold lines indicate player won Silver Slugger or Bronze Rookie.
Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS XR OWS
1942 22 TAM AL 148 536 85 198 30 4 3 60 0 1 35 19 .369 .410 .457 .868 89.4 22.5
1943 23 TAM AL 70 293 41 93 9 5 1 28 0 0 14 10 .317 .350 .392 .742 36.7 5.5
1944 24 TAM AL 147 569 87 173 30 5 4 70 10 6 43 24 .304 .356 .395 .751 71.9 10.4
1945 25 BSN NL 155 615 74 191 28 8 3 57 9 5 35 17 .311 .348 .397 .744 77.7 14.9
1946 26 BSN NL 138 485 62 153 30 7 1 63 6 5 42 7 .315 .366 .412 .779 68.6 12.4
1947 27 BSN NL 141 517 64 162 32 2 5 79 6 5 38 13 .313 .360 .412 .772 71.7 11.3
1948 28 BSN NL 154 554 68 147 31 7 2 57 13 6 42 37 .265 .314 .357 .671 60.7 6.5
1949 29 BSN NL 51 186 27 54 11 0 1 26 1 1 19 2 .290 .354 .366 .720 22.6 3.7
  MIN AL 103 386 59 115 30 5 3 42 3 1 32 20 .298 .352 .425 .776 52.3 6.4
  TOT   154 572 86 169 41 5 4 68 4 2 51 22 .295 .352 .406 .758 74.9 10.1
1950 30 MIN AL 152 598 102 211 37 10 8 90 7 4 46 24 .353 .399 .488 .887 105.5 18.6
1951 31 MIN AL 92 351 46 102 20 4 5 38 0 1 25 12 .291 .338 .413 .751 43.7 5.5
1952 32 MIN AL 103 368 44 103 24 2 1 50 5 2 21 19 .280 .318 .364 .682 38.1 3.1
1953 33 MIN AL 147 507 87 168 32 6 5 69 7 4 36 15 .331 .375 .448 .823 78.5 14.7
1954 34 MIN AL 154 577 80 184 36 6 6 68 4 4 36 16 .319 .358 .433 .791 80.8 15.1
1955 35 MIN AL 115 288 51 80 22 1 4 44 4 2 21 13 .278 .323 .403 .725 37.0 6.2
1956 36 PIT NL 26 17 6 5 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 .294 .333 .412 .745 1.9 0.3
  STL NL 47 89 9 27 2 0 0 6 0 0 6 5 .303 .343 .326 .669 10.5 0.9
  TOT   73 106 15 32 2 1 0 9 0 0 7 5 .302 .342 .340 .682 12.4 1.1
1957 37 STL NL 126 426 41 115 12 2 4 35 4 2 23 45 .270 .309 .336 .645 43.3 4.6
1958 38 STL NL 115 363 47 101 12 5 2 29 2 0 29 44 .278 .333 .355 .689 41.5 4.4
1959 39 STL NL 10 21 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 .286 .318 .333 .652 2.1 0.2
    A   110 410 51 103 19 3 12 47 2 10 62 85 .251 .350 .400 .750 57.3  
18 Years Sim 2194 7746 1081 2388 429 80 58 914 81 49 545 351 .308 .353 .407 .760 1034.4 167.2
1 Years A 110 410 51 103 19 3 12 47 2 10 62 85 .251 .356 .400 .756 57.3  
162 Game Average 571 79 176 31 5 4 67 5 3 40 25 .308 .353 .407 .760 76.4  
Career Highs 155 615 102 211 41 10 8 90 13 6 51 45 .369 .410 .488 .887 105.5  
Career Batting Splits     Help
Click on a Category to view yearly stats.
Category G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS XR
vs RH   5381 824 1774 316 61 47 660 57 40 397 217 .330 .375 .437 .812 819.8
vs LH   2365 257 614 113 19 11 254 24 9 148 134 .260 .304 .337 .641 236.1
Home 1080 3696 505 1139 213 39 30 428 37 28 275 166 .308 .355 .411 .767 511.3
Away 1114 4050 576 1249 216 41 28 486 44 21 270 185 .308 .352 .403 .755 544.6
RISP   1837 0 576 109 27 12 775 0 0 143 76 .314 .357 .422 .779 265.4
Pinch Hitting   223 29 62 9 2 1 36 0 0 13 11 .278 .322 .350 .672 24.0
Close/Late   922 112 282 50 8 3 125 0 0 52 40 .306 .342 .387 .729 115.4
Mar/Apr 406 1467 201 441 73 22 12 161 18 9 90 71 .301 .341 .405 .746 192.2
May 425 1560 217 486 91 13 12 187 11 7 125 59 .312 .364 .410 .774 220.5
June 363 1258 170 409 82 15 10 172 15 9 77 60 .325 .363 .438 .801 184.5
July 323 1184 187 367 68 9 8 119 18 5 72 49 .310 .349 .403 .752 158.5
August 345 1155 160 346 60 9 6 135 9 9 94 53 .300 .351 .383 .734 149.7
Sep/Oct 332 1122 146 339 55 12 10 140 10 10 87 59 .302 .351 .399 .750 150.5
Fielding Stats     Help
Bold lines indicate player won Gold Glove.
Year Age Tm Lg Pos G GS IP PO A E DP FPct RF   DWS
1942 22 TAM AL 3B 108 94 873.0 67 200 11 22 .960 2.75   5.1
    2B 34 30 270.7 55 107 4 20 .976 5.39   0.5
1943 23 TAM AL 3B 70 69 614.0 51 143 6 9 .970 2.84   3.3
1944 24 TAM AL 3B 145 142 1249.7 106 341 11 36 .976 3.22   7.0
    2B 2 0 4.0 4 2 0 1 1.000 13.50   0.1
1945 25 BSN NL SS 148 147 1306.0 221 596 27 123 .968 5.63   6.8
    3B 3 0 6.7 0 2 0 0 1.000 2.70   0.0
    2B 3 0 6.0 0 3 0 0 1.000 4.50   0.0
1946 26 BSN NL SS 124 117 1030.0 164 436 24 85 .962 5.24   4.6
    2B 11 0 22.0 8 16 0 3 1.000 9.82   0.2
1947 27 BSN NL SS 134 131 1147.7 199 535 28 91 .963 5.76   5.9
    2B 4 0 13.7 2 6 0 3 1.000 5.27   0.1
1948 28 BSN NL SS 148 145 1244.7 206 618 32 114 .963 5.96   4.5
    3B 2 0 4.0 2 0 0 0 1.000 4.50   0.0
    2B 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 .000 0.00   0.0
1949 29 BSN NL SS 50 49 424.2 76 199 7 39 .975 5.83   2.2
    2B 1 0 2.0 0 1 0 0 1.000 4.50   0.0
  MIN AL SS 102 100 868.8 157 409 15 80 .974 5.86   4.8
    2B 2 0 4.0 1 1 0 0 1.000 4.50   0.0
  TOT   SS 152 149 1293.0 233 608 22 119 .975 5.85   7.0
      2B 3 0 6.0 1 2 0 0 1.000 4.50   0.0
1950 30 MIN AL SS 148 144 1284.0 231 595 28 121 .967 5.79   6.5
    2B 3 0 5.0 1 5 1 2 .857 10.80   0.1
1951 31 MIN AL SS 90 88 784.0 131 398 15 72 .972 6.07   5.6
    3B 1 0 3.0 0 0 0 0 .000 0.00   0.0
1952 32 MIN AL SS 92 92 794.0 110 361 10 53 .979 5.34   3.9
    2B 8 2 27.0 9 14 2 5 .920 7.67   0.2
    3B 1 0 3.0 0 1 0 0 1.000 3.00   0.0
1953 33 MIN AL SS 117 109 979.3 164 401 12 92 .979 5.19   4.7
    2B 13 2 40.0 6 26 3 2 .914 7.20   0.2
    3B 3 3 24.0 0 6 0 1 1.000 2.25   0.1
    1B 1 1 9.0 18 1 1 2 .950 19.00   0.0
1954 34 MIN AL SS 149 148 1272.7 198 590 17 111 .979 5.57   9.2
    2B 3 0 7.0 4 6 0 3 1.000 12.86   0.1
1955 35 MIN AL 3B 54 38 358.0 23 106 8 5 .942 3.24   1.3
    2B 32 13 152.3 39 65 2 14 .981 6.14   0.7
    SS 21 7 86.0 17 38 4 5 .932 5.76   0.4
1956 36 PIT NL 3B 8 2 15.5 1 3 0 0 1.000 2.32   0.1
    SS 6 1 7.7 1 3 0 1 1.000 4.68   0.1
    2B 3 1 5.6 1 2 0 0 1.000 4.82   0.0
  STL NL 3B 15 4 87.8 5 14 1 2 .950 1.95   0.0
    SS 12 1 43.6 7 18 1 3 .962 5.16   0.1
    2B 6 2 31.4 4 8 0 2 1.000 3.44   0.1
  TOT   3B 23 6 103.3 6 17 1 2 .958 2.00   0.1
      SS 18 2 51.3 8 21 1 4 .967 5.09   0.2
      2B 9 3 37.0 5 10 0 2 1.000 3.65   0.1
1957 37 STL NL SS 87 81 721.0 81 254 16 44 .954 4.18   2.3
    3B 31 24 209.3 15 49 1 1 .985 2.75   0.9
    2B 1 0 2.0 0 1 0 0 1.000 4.50   0.0
1958 38 STL NL 3B 47 43 393.0 22 93 6 8 .950 2.63   0.9
    SS 50 41 367.0 66 138 12 22 .944 5.00   0.9
    2B 10 1 24.7 3 11 0 1 1.000 5.11   0.1
1959 39 STL NL 2B 6 3 31.0 6 12 0 1 1.000 5.23   0.1
    SS 2 2 16.0 2 7 0 1 1.000 5.06   0.1
    3B 2 1 11.0 0 1 0 0 1.000 0.82   0.0
  SS 1480 1403 12376.6 2031 5596 248 1057 .969 5.55   62.5
  3B 490 420 3852.0 292 959 44 84 .966 2.92   18.7
  2B 143 54 649.3 143 286 12 57 .973 5.95   2.5
  1B 1 1 9.0 18 1 1 2 .950 19.00   0.0
Career Totals   2114 1878 16886.9 2484 6842 305 1200 .968 4.97   83.8
Career Highs   155 149 1318.7 234 618 32 123 1.000 6.05    
Post-Season Batting Stats     Help
Bold lines indicate player won Post Season MVP Award.
Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
1942 22 TAM AL 7 25 4 8 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 .320 .370 .360 .730
1944 24 TAM AL 14 53 9 15 2 1 0 6 0 1 4 2 .283 .333 .358 .692
1954 34 MIN AL 13 49 11 12 4 1 0 7 2 1 4 1 .245 .286 .367 .653
1955 35 MIN AL 9 9 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 .222 .300 .222 .522
Career Post-Season Batting 43 136 24 37 7 2 0 15 2 2 11 3 .272 .320 .353 .673
Batting Leaderboards     Help
Top 10 finishes. Stats are Year-Rank-Value. League leaders are in bold.
(*) indicates hit-less at-bats added to meet minimum plate appearances.
Season Rankings are League Based.
Batting Average
1942-1-.369
1945-3-.311
1946-6-.315
1947-6-.313
1950-2-.353
1953-3-.331
1954-4-.319
CAR-47-.308
On-Base Pct
1942-4-.410
OPS
1942-9-.868
Games
1945-8-155
At-Bats
1945-2-615
1950-6-598
Hits
1942-2-198
1945-1-191
1950-2-211
1954-7-184
CAR-46-2388
Singles
1942-1-161
1944-4-134
1945-1-152
1946-10-115
1947-8-123
1950-1-156
1953-3-125
1954-5-136
CAR-17-1821
Doubles
1947-9-32
1948-9-31
1954-9-36
Triples
1945-4-8
1946-3-7
1948-4-7
1950-1-10
1953-10-6
1954-3-6
1958-9-5
CAR-39-80
Stolen Bases
1948-9-13
Caught Stealing
1944-9-6
1945-10-5
1948-5-6
1950-10-4
 
 
   Black Ink Test: 8    (Avg Batter in HOF ~ 42)
   Gray Ink Test: 58    (Avg Batter in HOF ~ 203)
   Hall of Fame Standards: 46    (Avg Batter in HOF ~ 64)
 
Similar Batters     What are Similarity Scores?

  1. Denny Walling (893)
  2. Mike Hargrove (877)
  3. Al Oliver (876)
  4. Jerry Mumphrey (863)
  5. Red Rolfe (858)
  6. Roy White (851)
  7. Dixie Walker (850)
  8. Ken Keltner (845)
  9. Lou Boudreau (833)
  10. Augie Galan (828)
History
Drafted in 1st round, 5th overall pick, by Tampa Bay in 1942
Had first career hit on 4/4/1942, off Wes Ferrell (BOS)
Hit first career homerun on 5/14/1942, off Ken Raffensberger (CLE)
Had 5 hits with 0 RBI against Minnesota on 7/30/1942
Won Bronze Rookie in 1942, hitting .369 with 3 HR, 60 RBI
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/1943, hitting .600 with 0 HR, 4 RBI
Injured on 6/11/1943 with a Torn Tricep Muscle, out for 4-5 weeks
Injured on 7/25/1944 with a Inflamed Elbow Ligament, out for one week
Won World Series with Tampa Bay in 1944
Won Gold Glove at Third Base in 1944
Traded from Tampa Bay to Boston (N) on 2/1/1945 (Going to BSN: 3B Johnny Pesky. Going to TAM: P Dave Odom)
2/1/1946: Gets a new one-year contract worth $2,664,286 through salary arbitration
Was selected to the 1946 Allstar game
Injured on 9/17/1946 with a Strained Posterior Cruciate Ligament, out for 4 weeks
2/1/1947: Gets a new one-year contract worth $2,807,143 through salary arbitration
Injured on 3/21/1947 with a Sprained Wrist, out for one week
Was selected to the 1947 Allstar game
Injured on 9/14/1947 with a Spasms Back, out for 4-5 weeks
Won Gold Glove at Shortstop in 1947
2/1/1948: Gets a new one-year contract worth $2,985,714 through salary arbitration
7/31/1948: Signed a contract extension with Boston (N), $5,000,000 per year, for 4 years
Won Gold Glove at Shortstop in 1948
Traded from Boston (N) to Minnesota on 6/1/1949 (Going to BSN: 2B Joe Rullo. Going to MIN: P Bill Voiselle, SS Johnny Pesky)
Won Gold Glove at Shortstop in 1949
Was selected to the 1950 Allstar game
Hit 3 homeruns against Oakland, driving in 6 runs on 7/20/1950
Drove in 6 runs against Cleveland on 5/27/1951
Injured on 6/17/1951 with a Pulled Groin Muscle, out for 7 weeks
6/1/1952: Signed a contract extension with Minnesota, $2,250,000 per year, for 3 years
Injured on 7/21/1952 with a Ruptured Tricep Tendon, out for 8 weeks
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Cleveland on 4/4/1953
Won Player of the Week award on 4/21/1953, hitting .556 with 0 HR, 7 RBI
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Oakland on 9/28/1953
Had 2000th career hit on 8/4/1954, off Hal Newhouser (BOS)
Won Gold Glove at Shortstop in 1954
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Seattle on 4/2/1955
Hit for the cycle against St. Louis on 5/27/1955
Won World Series with Minnesota in 1955
Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh on 2/6/1956 to a 4-year deal worth $1,750,000 per year
Traded from Pittsburgh to St. Louis on 7/31/1956 (Going to STL: P Hooks Iott, 3B Johnny Pesky, C Hal Smith, P Evelio Hernandez. Going to PIT: SS Jack Littrell)
Injured on 8/18/1957 with a Spasms Back, out for 4-5 weeks
3/3/1958: Signed a minor league contract extension with St. Louis
Had 6 hits with 4 RBI against Boston (N) on 4/4/1958