Johnny Pesky Portrait of Red Sox Legend
16″ x 20“, Oil on Canvas, 2018
by Charles C. Clear III
Johnny Pesky is known as Mr. Red Sox because he spent six decades with the team as a player, coach, manager, announcer, special assistant to the general manager, and beloved Baseball Ambassador.
Pesky joined the Boston Red Sox in 1942. He played shortstop and third base. Pesky left baseball to serve in the United States Navy during World War II. He returned to the Red Sox in 1946 and played for them until 1952.
Pesky collected over 200 hits each of his first three years with the Red Sox. He was the first American League player to score six runs in a 9-inning game, and he led the American League in base hits three times — his first three seasons in the majors — and was among the top ten in on-base percentage six times. He retired with a .307 career batting average in 4,745 at bats as a Major Leaguer.
In 2006, the Red Sox honored Pesky by officially naming the right-field foul pole “Pesky’s Pole”. In 2008, the Red Sox retired Pesky’s #6 to mark his 89th birthday and his 61 years of service to the ball club.
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This portrait of Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky was painted as a study for my Fenway Park Red Sox Mural, which my partner Bonnie Turner and I painted in the Autumn of 2020. For Pesky’s portrait I used an old black and white photo as a reference, but painting him in color really brought his face to life! The painting was painted on hand-stretched heavyweight canvas over a modified stretcher with a 1½” gallery-wrapped edge. It can be hung with or without a frame.
The color and detail in this portrait is amazing! If you like Johnny Pesky, or if you like the Red Sox, then this portrait is for you!
Charles C. Clear III
cc@oceanstateart.com