MIAMI -- Nearly six months after winning the World Series, the Florida Marlins got their rings Saturday.
They could hardly wait to put them on. Seconds after players and coaches received their enormous and expensive rings in a velvet-lined shadow box, most of them placed them on a finger and raised them above their heads.
Serious Series loot: 3.5 ounces of gold and gems, including 229 diamonds and 13 rubies.
"It's a very special day," manager Jack McKeon said. "After 50 years to finally get one, I'll enjoy it."
The pregame ceremony took more than 30 minutes, delaying Saturday's game against Philadelphia, but was seemingly appropriate for the delivery of what the Marlins called "the biggest championship rings ever made."
An armored Brinks truck brought the rings to Miami from Calgary, Alberta, a 3,200-mile trip. The truck backed into the stadium amid smoke. Then six U.S. Army soldiers loaded them onto a cart and escorted them through the stadium.
Team owner Jeffrey Loria spent the offseason meticulously designing the rings and called his final choice "glorious and spectacular." He began with 100 prototypes before settling on an enormous piece of jewelry that features 229 diamonds, including a rare teal one to represent the eye of a marlin leaping through the team's logo, and 13 rubies.
The 3½-ounce ring is so large it contains the name, number and position/title of each player or coach, the team's regular-season record (91-71), a picture of the World Series trophy and the results of each postseason series against the San Francisco Giants (3-1), Chicago Cubs (4-3) and New York Yankees (4-2).
The 14-karat white gold rings, which have 18-karat gold inserts, retail for about $40,000 each. But since Loria purchased more than 80, he is thought to have paid closer to $20,000 apiece. Loria would say only the rings are "priceless."
By comparison, the rings presented to the Anaheim Angels for winning the 2002 World Series are less than half the size of the one the Marlins now have.
"It's something we can be very proud of," McKeon said. "It's a little enticement to go out and get another one. This is when all the hard work pays off. Let's do it again."
Originally posted by rockdotcom_2.0I guess its cool, but i would prefer a more understated ring I could actually WEAR without looking like I should be a in a Nelly video.
I can't speak for this ring, but I was at the local minor league park last year and saw a couple of guys wearling world series rings (they turned out to be Reds coaches from their last championship year) and they looked super cool on these old white guys.
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