With the economy in tough shape, more and more World Series rings are showing up for sale or auction.  It's an easy way to pick up five figures of cash.  That is unless your name is Derek Bell.  Who knew Operation Shutdown would come back to haunt him?

I am not a jewelry guy. I have my wedding ring and that is the extent of my jewelry collection. And I have to admit, I tried to get out of wearing the ring. I wanted my wife to give me a watch, instead. “With this watch, I thee wed.” I thought that kind of flowed. My wife felt otherwise.

But if I played in the World Series, I guarantee you I would wear my World Series ring. Most athletes talk about the ring being almost as important as the prestige of being a World Series winner. So it is especially sad to see all of the athletes and coaches who have put their World Series ring up for auction.

Plenty of guys who played before the big money started rolling in have sold their World Series rings. There may be fewer guys who played on the storybook 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers still with their rings than those who sold them. But there’s no shortage of modern-day athletes hocking their rings.

There is even a site designed exclusively for selling championship rings. Championship-rings.net allegedly buys and sells 1,200 rings per year for all of the various sports. These include rings for coaches, players and others who might have received rings. The site has already sold a 2008 New York Giants Super Bowl ring.

So, I have found what I consider to be noteworthy players who sold their World Series rings. There is no database available for this, so this list is far from perfect. And even if it was at the time it was published, it would be obsolete within a month with the economy forcing more people into selling their memorabilia. Finally, I am listing the prices that the rings sold for but since the rings were sold in different points in time, not all values are created equally.

And with those caveats out of the way, I present the Top 10 Hocked World Series Rings.

10. George Foster’s 1986 New York Mets Ring $40,701.32 Lelands

This makes the list for the fact that it seems right that Foster no longer has a ring for this season. The former Reds’ slugger was a major disappointment as a Met in general and in the championship season he amassed a .227 average in 233 at-bats before they released him in early August. This seems like a fairly impressive sum to fetch for the ring of a guy who not only did not contribute much to the team, but one who was generally disliked, too.

9. Ralph Shinners’ 1922 New York Giants Ring $50,000 Robert Edward Auctions

Shinners played 56 games during his rookie season of 1922 but did not appear in a World Series game. This one is significant because 1922 is the first year that World Series rings were made. A confirmed sale by one of the stars of the team like George Kelly, Frankie Frisch, Ross Youngs or Casey Stengel would certainly rate higher.

8. Ernie Lomardi’s 1940 Cincinnati Reds Ring $13,200 Sotheby’s

It seems very odd that a World Series ring of a Hall of Famer would fetch such a relatively small sum. The auction, which took place in June of 2005, noted that the ring had “moderate wear” but the picture does not look bad for an item that was 65 years old. Many other Lombardi items were available in the auction. Perhaps that also contributed to the final price.

7. Catfish Hunter’s 1978 New York Yankees Ring $23,347 Mastro Fine Sports

Hunter’s teams won a division title seven times. They won the ALCS six times and the World Series five times. This ring was from his last World Series title. Hunter won a game in the ’78 Series but he was on his last legs. The next season would be his final year in the majors and he went 2-9 to end his career. If they argued about such things back then, it might have been said that Hunter wasn’t a “true Yankee” but it is surprising to me that this did not fetch more, especially given the price that his teammate’s ring would fetch.

6. Tony Lazzeri’s 1928 New York Yankees Ring $48,875 Hunt Auctions 

The future Hall of Famer finished third in the MVP race in 1928 with a .332/.397/.535 line as the team’s second baseman. This team was stacked with famous names, one that you might not think of immediately was Leo Durocher, who was Lazzeri’s backup/caddie. Nicknamed Poosh Em Up (a loose translation from the Italian phrase to hit a home run), Lazzeri never hit more than 18 HR in a season but he holds the AL record for most RBIs in a single game with 11.

5. Johnny Podres’ 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers Ring $50,932.37 Lelands

In addition to Podres, Junior Gilliam, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese and George Shuba have all sold their rings from this season. Even PA announcer Tex Rickard sold his ring. Reese fetched the most for his ring ($69,000) but it was sold in conjunction with a bronze photograph plaque of the team. Besides, Podres won two games in the World Series that year, including a complete-game shutout in Game 7.

4. Thurman Munson’s 1977 New York Yankees Ring $143,750 Hunt Auctions

Now, Munson was the captain and a “true Yankee” but six times the amount that Catfish Hunter fetched? I have to say I am a little surprised. Three times as much, sure. Four times as much seems okay. But a six-fold lead seems out of whack. So, if you have a World Series ring you want to sell, perhaps you might choose Hunt to get the most return.

3. Joe DiMaggio’s 1951 New York Yankees Ring $37,375 Sotheby’s

This was part of the massive auction of Barry Halper’s memorabilia collection in 1999. There is no doubt that this would fetch a lot more if it was on the market today. 1951 was the final year in DiMaggio’s career and the only time that he and Mickey Mantle played on the same team. DiMaggio played in more games but it is striking how similar their statistics are this season. DiMaggio had a .263-12-71 line with a .787 OPS. Mantle had a .267-13-65 line with a .792 OPS.

Ruth hit 60 HR this season but Gehrig won the MVP Award (you could only win once in those days). Even then, writers liked the RBIs, as Gehrig led the AL with 175. Oh yeah, he also had 447 total bases, tops in the league and the third-highest mark in MLB history. Gehrig was a fantastic World Series performer. He had a lifetime .361/.477/.731 mark in seven World Series covering 150 plate appearances. He had a .769 SLG mark in the 1927 series, thanks to two doubles and two triples in four games. 

1. Mickey Mantle’s 1962 New York Yankees Ring $164,000 Guernseys

The Yankees beat the Giants in seven games in the 1962 World Series but Mantle had little to do with that. He had just four hits in 25 at-bats and did not drive in a single run. Of course, he was the regular season MVP that year with a .321/.486/.605 line. I also found a price for Mantle’s 1956 ring, which fetched $123,500.

The lowest price I came across for a player’s ring was Willie Davis, whose 1963 ring brought home $9,492.

Derek Bell tried to sell his 1992 ring on ebay but it did not meet the $17,000 asking price. It is now available at championship-rings.net for $13,995. Leroy Stanton, a coach on the 1992 Blue Jays, sold his championship ring for $10,200.

A 2004 Red Sox World Series ring was sold at a benefit for Beth Israel hospital for $100,000 although this was not a player or coach ring.

Finally, Bob Gibson’s 1964 and 1967 rings will be available the end of July in a massive auction of Gibson memorabilia.

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written by Brian J, June 30, 2009

Thanks Tim.

The thing that surprised me in doing this was just how many WS rings have been sold. I understand it, but still it surprises me a lot.

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Facinating!
written by Tim Hart, June 30, 2009

Cool info, Brian! Thanks for sharing your research into this quirky subject. Maybe we should've all bought championship rings for our 401Ks last year instead of....

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written by Brian J, June 30, 2009

Thanks for the kind words Anthony!

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Fringe Infotainment
written by Anthony Catanzaro, June 30, 2009

Thanks Brian, I dig these obscure topics about the dark underbelly of America's pastime and you write them well. Nice mix of statistical backup and narrative enhancement too. I wonder what my high school ring would fetch at that site- I did take home a Wiffleball Cy-Young back in '89 I think.

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