Dodgers receive rings that are fit for kings
Jewelry commemorating team’s first World Series title in 32 years is full of bling and worth the wait.
Clayton Kershaw exchanged hugs with Dodgers executives Stan Kasten and Andrew Friedman near home plate in Dodger Stadium as he received his World Series ring Friday, the pitcher emitting outbursts of joy as he walked up the third-base line to join teammates during the pregame ceremony.
“Woo-hoo!” the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner yelled, his grin growing with each step. “Let’s see this thing!”
As he opened the glossy blue box containing the ring it took 13 years — and several postseason heartbreaks — to earn, Kershaw looked confused.
“There’s a video,” teammate Joe Kelly said, referring to an LCD screen on the interior of the ring box that plays a four-minute Dodgers 2020 season highlight video — complete with music and sound — each time the box is opened.
“What?” Kershaw said, his eyes widening.
The video would have to wait. Kershaw put the massive piece of jewelry on his left ring finger and thrust his left fist into the sky.
“Look at that thing!” Kershaw exclaimed. “Oh my God!”
This was exactly the kind of reaction the Dodgers and Jostens, the Minneapolis-based company that produced the ring with input from the team, were hoping for.
Players and coaches from the 2020 championship club were rewarded with an 11-carat ring that features an abundance of dazzling diamonds and Dodger-blue sapphires, a brilliant yellow-gold Commissioner’s Trophy and a classic red, white and blue team logo.
The ring includes about 222 round diamonds, 10 princess-cut diamonds, 45 custom-cut genuine sapphires and eight round, genuine sapphires.
“Ownership did a great job of capturing every detail and making it really unique to the Dodgers of 2020,” manager Dave Roberts said after Friday’s 1-0 victory over Washington in the home opener. “It’s really special. It’s something that was 32 years in the making, and they got it right.”
The Dodgers finished a pandemic-shortened season with a major league-best 43-17 record and beat Milwaukee in the wild-card series, San Diego in the Division Series, Atlanta in the Championship Series and Tampa Bay in the World Series.
They spent almost four weeks in the Texas bubble, where they played the final three playoff rounds and won their first championship since 1988.
“We wanted something that told a story, which this does,” Kasten, the team’s president, said in an interview with SportsNet LA. “But we also wanted it to be showy and emblematic of a lot of hard work.”
The ring top features the team’s interlocking “LA” logo, fashioned from 17 custom-cut sapphires, set atop an infield of diamonds, the basepaths consisting of 16 pave-set diamonds and accented by firstbase, second-base, third-base and home-plate princess-cut diamonds.
An additional 29 diamonds — symbolizing the number of home runs the Dodgers hit in the Texas bubble — fill the interior of the baseball diamond. Another 16 sapphires and a halo of 44 diamonds surround the logo and the baseball diamond.
Adorning the top and bottom of the ring is the title “WORLD CHAMPIONS.” Cascading down the sides of the ring are 96 diamonds. The top and bottom edges of the ring top are accented by six princess-cut diamonds set in pennants, honoring the team’s six previous World Series titles.
A combined 12 princess-cut sapphires — six on each edge of the ring top — represent the 12 homers the Dodgers hit in the World Series against the Rays.
The left side of the ring features the recipient’s last name in block letters above his uniform number set in diamonds, the logo the team adopted when it moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958 — with a blue cursive “Dodgers” and a red-and-white ball depicted in flight — and Major League Baseball’s logo.
The right side features the words “LOS ANGELES” in block letters above a gold World Series trophy, accented with a single diamond.
The trophy is flanked by “2020,” set with 36 diamonds and underlined by eight round sapphires, one for each of the team’s eight straight NL West titles, and, in a salute to the team’s Southern California home, a pair of palm trees.
The inside of the ring is personalized with the player’s signature, a blue enamel “LA” logo and the results from the four playoff rounds. The “LA” logo also adorns the exterior palm.
“It’s way bigger than I thought it would be,” catcher Will Smith said. “You knew it was gonna be big and pretty sweet, but actually getting to hold it, to see it, to see your name and number on it was pretty special.”
The ring box is also a piece of art, featuring a personalized nameplate, a rotating ring platform that spins when the box is opened, an interior light to showcase the ring and the LCD screen and highlight video.
“I haven’t got to watch the entire [video], but that’s something I’ll probably do tonight when I get home,” third baseman Justin Turner said. “I’ll probably watch it a couple of times, actually.”