Overview
Boston Red Sox icon Johnny Pesky ranks the five best players at each position to ever take the field in this subjective analysis. Featured players include Mo Vaughn, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Cy Young, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Jim Rice, Bill Lee, and Nomar Garciaparra.
Author Biography
Johnny Pesky has served the Red Sox in virtually every capacity—as an All-Star player, a coach, a manager, a broadcaster, and a goodwill ambassador—over parts of seven decades. A Boston legend, Pesky has worn the uniform longer than anyone else, and his namesake “Pesky Pole” marks the right field foul line at Fenway Park. Phil Pepe is the author of more than 40 books on sports, including collaborations with Yankees legends Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, and Whitey Ford. He is a former Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News and a former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Carl Yastrzemski is a former player for the Boston Red Sox, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, an 18-time All-Star, and the recipient of seven Gold Gloves. Ben Affleck is a critically acclaimed filmmaker, an actor, and a philanthropist. He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox.
Press Releases
                    Mo Vaughn or Jimmie Foxx? Ted Williams or Carl Yastrzemski? Cy Young, Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez? 
Boston Red Sox fans know immediately what these questions ask. Sports fans everywhere understand such questions, having mulled over similar debates about their favorite players on their favorite team.
Few and Chosen: Defining Red Sox Greatness Across the Eras by Johnny Pesky with Phil Pepe (Introduction by Ben Affleck, Foreword by Carl Yastrzemski) establishes once and for all the pecking order of the best players in Red Sox history listed No. 1 - 5 at each position.
Arguing for or against your most beloved/reviled player on the team is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a sports fan. Subjectivity inevitably comes to the forefront at these times and the crux behind many arguments becomes revealed for what it is - mere opinion.
Few and Chosen: Defining Red Sox Greatness Across the Eras offers concrete facts and statistics to support the rankings of the best players as created by one of Boston\'s favorite players ever.
Johnny Pesky\'s major league career began in 1942 with the Red Sox. Some of his teammates that rookie year included legends such as Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx and Dom DiMaggio. In the 60-plus years since that season, Pesky has maintained a unique relationship with the Red Sox organization by being associated with the team in almost every phase possible including player, coach, manager, commentator, advertising salesman and franchise icon.
Few and Chosen possesses many surprises for Red Sox fans, with rankings (Roger Clemens, Jim Rice, Bill Lee, Nomar Garciaparra to name a few) that will raise a few eyebrows. But when readers see the empirical numbers next to analysis and commentary from a Boston icon they will understand that the ultimate roster for \'Red Sox Nation\' has finally been created. 
About the Authors
Johnny Pesky\'s 10-year Major League career began in 1942 with the Boston Red Sox and ended in 1954 with the Washington Senators, with three full seasons lost along the way (1943, 1944, 1945) due to being in the Navy during World War II. Pesky\'s first eight seaons were spent in Boston where he became a fan favorite along with teammates Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio. A lightning-fast shortstop, Pesky was an All-Star in 1946 before becoming most famous to Red Sox fans for his namesake in right field. The right field pole was dubbed the \"Pesky Pole\" in large part for the home runs the shortstop managed to hook around the pole. After his playing days ended, Pesky continued to coach for the Red Sox and was the team\'s manager in 1963 and 1964. In 1995 he was honored as one of the first inductees into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. At age 84, Pesky is still a mainstay on the Red Sox bench, working as a special assignment instructor. 
Phil Pepe is the author of 39 books on sports, including collaborations with Yankee legends Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin and Whitey Ford. This is his third book in the ongoing series of Few and Chosen titles (Yankees with Whitey Ford, Cardinals with Tim McCarver previously) created by Triumph Books, each is co-written by Pepe. Pepe was the Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News from 1968-1981 and is former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America.