Even though Pesky's Pole was dubbed that in the 1950s, the phrase really didn't become popular until the late 1980s or early 1990s. According to former Red Sox star Johnny Pesky, it was Sox pitcher Mel Parnell who coined the term, after Pesky hit a home run just beyond Fenway Park's right-field foul pole. That home run — one of only six homers Pesky ever hit at Fenway Park — won the game for Parnell.