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The late Johnny Pesky gave his life to his beloved Boston Red Sox [team stats], but, sadly, it appears only four current players made time to attend the Fenway icon’s funeral.
Word from Yawkey Way is that the Sox front office hired buses to bring players, office and staff to the funeral from the ballpark to the church. The suits, we hear, were surprised and disappointed when the vast majority of the 40 players on the roster didn’t bother to show up for the services.
“We ordered the buses for the front office to go, knowing that any players could join us or drive separately from their homes,” Sox spokesman Charles Steinberg told the Track. “Between the ownership, front office, current players and staff, and former players, we were well represented by the people who knew Johnny best.”
The only players the Herald observed at the funeral at St. John The Evangelist Church in Swampscott were designated hitter David Ortiz [stats], pitchers Clay Buchholz and Vincente Padilla and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
By contrast, that same night, nearly the entire team turned out for pitcher Josh Beckett [stats]’s annual Beckett Bowl and country music show at Lucky Strike Lanes and the House of Blues.
“The front office was not happy,” said Someone Who Knows.
Pesky, a Fenway fixture for 60 years, was described as the “heart, soul and spirit of the organization” by Sox prez Larry Lucchino.
Lucchino, owner John Henry and his wife, Linda, Sox CEO Sam Kennedy, GM Ben Cherington and many more team execs and staff were on hand to bid Pesky a final farewell. Also in the pews were former players like Nomar Garciaparra, who made the trip from California for the funeral and was visibly upset during the ceremony; Jim Rice, Bill Lee, Jerry Moses and Mike Andrews.
The current squad also missed Pesky’s wake this past Saturday because they were in New York for a game with the Yankees. But legendary dirt dog Trot Nixon was there and he gave an off-the-cuff eulogy for Johnny to the Herald that is bittersweet in light of the funeral snub.
“I look back and it’s not just him being on the field and hitting ground balls, but how he carried himself and how much he cared for all the ballplayers, whether you were at the major league level or in the minor league level,” Nixon said. “Everybody that worked in the organization, from the highest level down to guys working in the clubhouse, he generally cared for everyone and loved the game of baseball. He was a fantastic ambassador. I loved Johnny.”
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