How would you like to own a World Series or an All-Star Game ring? Or, how about a Gold Glove, MVP trophy or Comeback Player of the Year Award?
Sounds impossible, but, for a price, you, too, can have one of these extremely personalized and rare mementos.
Buying and selling athletes` personal memorabilia is a unique part of sports collecting. Dealers offer possessions you`d never think players would sell at any price.
”You`re talking about high-end collectible, like a Mercedes,” said Lou Costanzo of Champion Sports and Coins in San Gabriel, Calif. ”Attorneys, doctors and corporate executives are usually the people who collect rings and awards.”
Recent ads in hobby publications have offered World Series rings for sale from the 1948 Indians ($4,500), the 1954 Giants ($7,500), the 1957 Braves
($5,000) and the 1960 Pirates ($5,000). A 1983 All-Star Game ring ($1,500)
and a 1975 Gold Glove Award ($2,800) also were available.
The asking price on Steve Garvey`s 1978 World Series ring was $1,750, and former White Sox pitcher Early Wynn`s 1959 American League comeback award was going for $2,500. Auction items have included a Dave Winfield All-Star Game ring, Steve Carlton`s 1972 and 1974 All-Star rings and one commemorating his 300th victory.
Rings can be copied, though John Scarpellini, vice president of The Balfour Co., a ring and trophy manufacturer, says the company must have written permission from a team before such duplication is done.
One dealer recently advertised a Vince Lombardi Super Bowl I ring for $3,500. The dealer says he`s 95 percent sure it`s a salesman`s sample. These are harder to spot and usually made of celestrium or astrium, jeweler`s alloys.
Many of the rings available are from nonplaying personnel, though some players are more than willing to part with them for cash.
”I look at hobby publications for things like that, and when I see a guy selling rings or trophies, I figure he`s hurting and contact him,” said Joe Garagiola, the former broadcaster who is now the president of Baseball Alumni Team Inc., a group that helps impoverished former players. ”Most of these guys don`t want to talk about getting rid of something like that. It`s really sad. One of the players we were helping sold one of his two World Series rings just before he died. The last thing he said to me was, `Please, I just want to die with one of my rings.` ”
Costanzo, the San Gabriel dealer, says pre-1980 rings and trophies are plentiful. And, as Garagiola said, players who sold their awards either deny having done so or refuse to be interviewed about it.
”A lot of the older ballplayers didn`t command the salaries players do today and they wind up selling rings or trophies,” Costanzo said. ”I bought Maury Wills` MVP trophy (1962, National League) and Ed Kranepool`s World Series rings from the 1969 and 1973 Mets. Kranepool said he didn`t wear them and didn`t really want them. He used the money to buy a boat.”
Pat Quinn of Sports Collectors Store in La Grange remembers getting a call from former Twins shortstop Zoilo Versalles in the early 1970s about peddling his World Series and All-Star Game rings, American League MVP trophy and Gold Glove Award. All were from 1965.
”It was back in the days when people didn`t buy that stuff,” said Quinn. ”He sold me everything. He was destitute and needed money badly.”
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About five years later, the collector who bought Versalles` awards from Quinn approached Versalles and told him what he had. Versalles denied selling anything until the collector showed him the items.
Said Quinn: ”Some guys just don`t want people knowing their stuff is gone. You don`t usually get approached by the player. It`s always a family member or another party. These things can go through a lot of hands.”
Bill Goodwin of St. Louis Baseball Cards recently received a letter from the widow of former outfielder Billy Southworth offering his 1928 Cardinals World Series ring for $10,000.
”It`s not worth that much,” Goodwin said. ”I imagine she`s selling out of necessity. You hate to embarrass people by telling them you don`t want something like that because they want too much for it.”
Garagiola, who says he was heartbroken when his 1946 Cardinals World Series ring was stolen, thinks no price can be put on such keepsakes.
”Most guys I talk to say it`s the last things they`ll give up,” he said. ”For any price.”