As might be expected when old teammates assemble, there were plenty of good stories being told when Dustin Pedroia, Trot Nixon and Jonathan Papelbon got together Wednesday night at Fenway.

All three – along with Billy Rohr (for his one-hitter in 1967) and longtime legal counsel Elaine Weddington Steward – were inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in an on-field ceremony.

Nixon was humbled by his inclusion, initially unsure of his worthiness despite an .845 OPS in his decade with the Red Sox.

“I hold stuff like this to a very high standard and for this organization to be around as long as it has, I was a little dumbfounded and taken aback (upon hearing the news),” said Nixon. “When I let it sink in, I was absolutely honored to be thought of in a way to be thought of as a Hall of Famer for an organization like this. Even to me, I’m kind of a modest person. When you say that kind of stuff, (I wonder), ‘Am I worthy of it?’ There’s a lot of people that are very worthy of it, but I just wanted to make sure I was.

“I don’t know what it feels like (to be) a major league Hall of Famer, but this is pretty … unbelievable to me. I feel honored. No offense to some of these organizations that I’ve been around, but for me, (being part of the Red Sox Hall of Fame), it just gives me chills. I still can’t wrap my head around this and I don’t know if I ever will (be able to) do that.”

Papelbon, interestingly, recalled the team’s attempt to make him a starter, and revealed that he much preferred the role of reliever – for a reason that little do with pitching.

“I viewed myself as an everyday player,” said Papelbon. “Theo (Epstein) wanted me to start, Tito (Francona) wanted me to start. I didn’t want to start. To me to get into 75-80 games a year, I was like an everyday player as a pitcher. I don’t think those guys (Pedroia and Nixon) ever came into the clubhouse with a clean jersey or a clean pair of pants. To me, going in with them, is awesome. They were literally Dirt Dogs and I viewed myself like that.

“You have these cliques – pitchers usually hang out with pitchers. But there were no cliques with me.”

Pedroia will be on the other Hall of Fame ballot – the one that sends players to Cooperstown – for the first time this winter, but is unsure about his chances.

“I don’t know – that’s your job,” he said to a couple of voters. “You guys saw me play. I don’t know what the criteria is, but I just played as hard as I could, played a lot of games, and I think I won every award (including Rookie of the Year and MVP). I respect the game so much. Anybody who votes for me, I’d be appreciative. That’s how I look at it. I don’t get wrapped up in all that. I’m not a big self-promoter.

“I’ve seen a few guys get in that I played with and against. But I don’t know what a Hall of Famer is. I played against guys who were in the Hall of Fame…and my team beat (them). So, I don’t know. I just know we were trying to win.”

Pedroia may have been his own worst enemy because he played hard at times, which shortened his career.

“I played as hard as I could for as long as I could,” he said. “This environment (Boston) demands that. Could I have taken days off and then played for another three or four years and hit .280 with 10 home runs and 30 doubles and been in the Hall of Fame? Sure. But my team would have suffered for me doing that. My leadership wouldn’t have been what it was. So my end-goal was to win. That’s it.”

ZACH PENROD, promoted from the Portland Sea Dogs to Worcester, pitched four scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut on Thursday.

The 26-year-old lefty allowed five hits and two walks while striking out five in a 4-1 win over Charlotte.

Penrod threw 39 four-seam fastballs, 18 sliders and 17 changeups, per Baseball Savant. His fastball averaged 94.5 mph and topped out at 97 mph. He got six swing-and-misses with it.
His slider averaged 87.7 mph and his changeup averaged 87.8 mph, according to Baseball Savant. He recorded four swing and misses with his changeup and one with his slider.

Penrod received a promotion from Portland on Sunday after he went 4-0 with a 2.80 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 53 strikeouts and 13 walks in 35 1/3 innings. Opponents batted .183 against him. He averaged 13.5 strikeouts and 3.3 walks per nine innings.

Boston signed him out of the independent Pioneer League last Aug. 16. He went on to post a 2.18 ERA (20 2/3 innings, five earned runs) in four regular season starts for High-A Greenville, then made four starts for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League. He led all AFL starters in ERA (1.29).