The Red Sox will retire the number 6 Friday night, on the eve of Johnny Pesky's 89th birthday. In order to do this, the Sox had to change their policy on retired numbers. Doerr, Cronin, Williams, Yastrzemski, and Fisk - the owners of the retired numbers in left field - are all Hall of Famers. Pesky is not.
But, he's been with the team in one capacity or another for almost 60 years.
The number 6 has also worn by Harry Agganis, Joe Cronin (for one season), Rico Petrocelli, and Bill Buckner. Gary Gaeti was the last Sox player to wear it in 2000.
I'm happy about this move. Pesky wasn't a phenomenally great player. He was good, but not Hall of Fame good. But he's been a part of this team for so long. The term "ambassador" of the game gets thrown around too much, but in Pesky's case it fits him like a glove.
And hopefully this opens the door to retiring Tony Conigliaro's #25.
Sources:
Boston.com
Red Sox Diehard.com
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