MLB Rings Bring the Bling!

Being in the middle of “Red October” and the MLB playoffs got us thinking: where did the tradition of World Series rings come from? So we did a little research and found out the following really cool facts:

  • Rings for winning the World Series have been a tradition since 1932.
  • However, the concept of valuable rings going to the victors started with the high-level amateur Montreal Hockey Club when the squad claimed the 1893 Stanley Cup. The first rings looked like wedding bands, except for a couple of hockey sticks crossed for decoration.
  • In MLB, it started with the 1922 World Series champion New York Giants. The rings were 14-karat gold containing a single diamond jewel in the center of a baseball diamond, flanked by crossed bats, a ball, glove, and laurel leaves with the words “Giants World Champions 1922” sweeping across the sides. Rings wouldn’t be the standard for another 10 years.
  • Since teams change throughout the season, players get hurt, are waived, get traded, or are sent down (or called up) from the minor leagues, etc. So how is this taken into account after winning the World Series? The remaining players vote to decide “World Series shares” for people both on the current roster, as well as those not on the roster. This could include former players who left the team mid-season and did not participate in the Series as well as the manager, coaches, trainers, executives, club personnel, and even fans or players from years past.

These are great facts, but as a jewelry store, we are interested in the bling.

  • Rings are usually made of white or yellow gold, with diamonds and other precious gems dotting them. The rings include the team name and logo, along with the championship number.
  • As mentioned above, rings from 1922 through 1972 contained a single diamond jewel in the center of a baseball diamond. This first changed in 1973 when the Oakland A’s placed a gold inlay of their “A’s” logo atop their ring.
  • Then in 1977, the New York Yankees revolutionized the design. The Yankees also rejected the single stone and instead used the “NY” logo created from 19 diamonds atop a blue stone field
  • The tradition of more bling has continued with the most opulent to date being the 2003 Florida Marlins ring: a 3.5 ounce, 14-karat white gold ring encrusted with 229 diamonds, including a rare teal diamond and thirteen rubies.
  • As you can guess, many players don’t wear their rings due to size and value. So some players purchase the lower-tier rings (created for non-player personnel) to wear in public.

We will continue to root for our home team, the Phillies, and hope that they get to bring home their very own rings!