Who Gets A World Series Ring? (Answered In Detail!)
Paul Hall
Every kid who’s ever thrown a ball or held a bat dreams of winning the World Series ring someday.
It’s an ultimate prize in the world of baseball and a crowning achievement in the career of any player.
Of course, only one team gets to be a champion every year and the competition is extremely fierce.
So, the coveted ring remains just a dream for the majority of ballplayers which only increases its value.
However, you may not know that players are commonly not the only ones to get the ring.
There are plenty of other people deemed worthy of championship honors and teams try to do their best to honor all of them with this prized piece of jewelry.
Sometimes, after winning a world series a team would make hundreds of rings and you’ll probably be surprised to learn who gets a World Series ring besides players.
So, let’s find out!
Table of Contents
Who Gets A World Series Ring?
The World Series rings are commissioned by the teams that ended up as MLB champions. This means that it’s up to the teams to decide who gets the ring.
In most cases, besides players, rings are made for the coaching staff and front office members.
However, most teams also reward a lot of people outside these core groups.
Often, they will commission rings in a couple of different tiers of rings for various categories of receivers.
So, the teams produce A, B, and C versions of the rings, with each group being of a different value with B and C rings being cheaper and smaller.
In most cases, the number of rings is well over 100. In 2015, After winning the World Series, Kansas City Royals distributed about 700 rings.
The Red Sox had 500 rings made in 2004, while the Cardinals ordered 400 after winning the championship in 2006.
Players
As expected, all players on the active 26-men roster in the World Series get their rings. This is also most often the case with the rest of the players on the 40-men full roster.
However, players who got traded or released during the season are also eligible to get the ring and they usually do.
This is also the case for players on franchise minor league teams, who have only sporadically played during the championship-winning season.
There are cases where players have appeared only in one game and still got the ring.
Brayan Villarreal has a World Series ring for winning a championship with the Red Sox in 2013 but has only played one game.
Another famous example is Brian Matusz who pitched only 3 innings in one game for the Cubs in 2016, gave up 2 runs in each of the innings, and still ended up with the ring.
Non-Players
As there are no hard and precise rules on who gets the ring, franchises often reward hundreds of people around the organization.
The manager, other coaches, and the front office are, of course, first in line among the non-playing staff.
In addition, the World Series winner will often reward members of the medical staff, scouts, groundskeepers, ball boys and girls, cheerleaders, broadcasters, and potentially anyone else employed with the organization.
Russel Nua, a massage therapist, famously has 5 rings he won during his 20 years spent with the Red Sox and Diamondbacks organizations.
Winning franchises will also often make replicas of their World Series rings and make them available to fans at a discount price.
The Braves, in 2021, even offered the fans a limited number of the real ring, but at a much steeper price.
Umpires also get a more modest ring for their work in the World Series.
Who Has The Most World Series Rings?
Unsurprisingly, the list of players with the most World Series rings is dominated by the Yankees. Of the 25 players with the most rings, only three have played for other franchises.
The first name on the list is iconic Yankees catcher Yogi Berra. Berra has won 10 rings as a player.
Plus, he also has three more as Yankees’ manager/coach.
Here’s the list of players with the most rings:
1. Yogi Berra, 10 rings, Yankees
2. Joe DiMaggio, 9 rings, Yankees
3. Bill Dickey, 8 rings, Yankees
3. Phil Rizzuto, 8 rings, Yankees
3. Frankie Crosetti, 8 rings, Yankees
3. Lou Gehrig, 8 rings, Yankees
4. Hank Bauer, 7rings, Yankees
4. Mickey Mantle, 7rings, Yankees
4. Babe Ruth, 7 rings, Red Sox and Yankees
4. Johnny Murphy, 7 rings, Yankees
4. Tommy Henrich, 7 rings, Yankees
4. Herb Pennock, 7 rings, Philadelphia A’s, Red Sox, and Yankees
How Much Is A World Series Ring Worth?
Because the teams are the ones commissioning the rings, they can often get rather extravagant and expensive.
In addition, they are commonly made by some of the most reputable jewelry companies such as Jostens, Tiffany & Co., Dieges & Clust, and L.G. Balfour which only adds to the price.
Commonly, the worth of one ring in the A tier is around $20,000.
The largest ring ever was produced in 2003 by Miami Marlins. It was made from 14-karat gold, contained 228 diamonds and 13 rubies, and weighed more than a quarter of a pound.
The estimated retail value of these rings at the time was over $40,000. The 2016 Cubs ring was even more expensive, at around $70,000,
World Series rings have even more value on the sports memorabilia market. Babe Ruth’s ring from 1927 was auctioned in 2018 for $2,093,927.
Conclusion
There’s nothing in the world of baseball as valuable as the World Series ring.
Valued both by players and the fans, the ring represents the hardest-fought victory on the field and the career pinnacle for everyone involved.
Getting the ring is nowadays a synonym for winning championships and the “ring culture” is now deeply engrained in and around the sports.
Besides players, organizations usually hand out rings to everyone within, or even outside, the franchise that they feel has contributed to winning the World Series.
The rings are commonly saved and cherished for generations.
If they do appear on the market, they commonly reach staggering prices, as one of the most valuable sports memorabilia items in the world.
