David Ortiz and Johnny Pesky greet each other after Pesky used his fungo bat to hit a grounder to Ortiz in the pre-game ceremony.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Johnny Pesky stood on the warning track near the Red Sox dugout in the mist and fog yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park with tears in his eyes.

He was surrounded by the current Boston players, who all gave him hugs after a pregame ceremony in which the organization bestowed the ultimate Red Sox honor when they retired his jersey number.

Now his No. 6 will hang alongside Bobby Doerr’s (No. 1), Joe Cronin’s (No. 4), Carl Yastrzemski’s (No. 8), Ted Williams’ (No. 9) and Carlton Fisk’s (No. 27) on the right-field façade, along with Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, which was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997.

Pesky is very humble about his career with the Red Sox and says his No. 6 should not be retired because he didn’t have a “Hall-of-Fame career.”

But it’s not always about the numbers.

Pesky, 89, has done so many things for the Red Sox organization from charity and community work, to just being a genuine guy, Boston is blessed to have such a legend around the ballpark.

Pesky and PawSox owner Ben Mondor are also very close, so it’s not unusual to see Pesky hanging around McCoy Stadium with Dom DiMaggio during the summer. In fact, Pawtucket is a special place for Pesky.

In 1990, at the age of 70, Pesky became the manager of the PawSox after Ed Nottle was fired midway through the season. It was then that former PawSox clubhouse manager Chris Parent realized what type of person he was working with.

“We were all shocked at the firing [of Nottle] but pretty blown away by having JP become our skipper,” Parent said. “I was nervous because of who he was; a legend then as much as now.”

Parent was in his first year as head clubby when his first interaction with his new manager was to tell Pesky that his No. 6 was already being worn by a player.

“I was so scared of his reaction,” Parent said. “He told me ‘The player who has it, keeps it. It won’t matter what’s on the back, as long as Red Sox is on the front.’ That has stuck with me to this day. In those 2 ½ months of 1990 was the most I learned.”

Pesky, who wore No. 19 as Pawtucket’s manager, wasn’t your typical minor-league manager. He would spend the morning folding laundry with Parent before every home game. Pesky one day told Parent the reason he helped out was because he was a clubby back home in Portland, Ore., before he turned pro.

Pesky managed the PawSox only for the remainder of the 1990 season, and after that Parent was very particular who he gave No. 6 to, in honor of Pesky.

After yesterday’s ceremony, the Red Sox held a brief media session with Pesky and Jim Rice in the interview room at Fenway Park. When the two entered the room, it was as if Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were having a conversation.

“I got you here,” Rice said to Pesky.

“You got me to the outhouse,” Pesky quickly answered. “This man should be in the Hall of Fame.”

“We’re talking about you today,” Rice answered.

“Do you know you hit more home runs in a month than I hit in a career?” Pesky said. “No one worked harder than you did in every phase of the game. You should have been in the Hall of Fame 10 years ago.”

The two have been close friends since Rice’s days as a rookie. As the two sat next to each other yesterday, it was obvious Pesky was a little taken aback by the entire situation.

“I’m not Hall of Fame material,” said Pesky. “But I played with some great guys and I was a great coat hanger. I was hanging on Ted, Bobby and Dom.”

The ceremony was originally scheduled for last Friday, but rain moved it to yesterday.

“They should have skipped it all together,” joked Pesky. “This is very flattering. I’m so grateful.”

He also threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Game One of yesterday’s day/night doubleheader, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was his catcher. Like most things Pesky does, he wanted to make it unique, so he walked over to the mound, grabbed the actual game ball and hit a fungo to Ortiz at home plate.

During his news conference yesterday, Pesky told the story of how he ended up with the Red Sox. He said he was in high demand as a young kid and scouts from the Sox, Yankees, Indians and Tigers all were interested in him. But, because Johnny’s mother like the Red Sox, he signed with Boston and has stayed for more than a half century as a player, coach, manager, broadcaster and special assistant.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ve got, but God spared me,” Pesky said. “I say my prayers every night, and I say some for the Red Sox, too.”

jmcdonal@projo.com