Bling, bling: Dodgers show off glittering World Series rings in pregame ceremony
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings in a ceremony Friday night.
“There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles hosted the Detroit Tigers.
A choir in the left field pavilion sang “We Are the Champions” to open the ceremony hosted by actor Anthony Anderson.
“Nobody was like us last year and I have a feeling that nobody will be like us this year,” said Anderson, a Dodgers fan.
Ohtani, World Series MVP Freddie Freeman and Roberts received some of the loudest cheers walking a blue carpet to a circular stage between home plate and the mound.
Ohtani waved to the fans. They chanted “Freddie! Freddie!” when it was Freeman’s turn.
They were greeted with hugs from owner Mark Walter, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, president and CEO Stan Kasten and general manager Brandon Gomes, who presented the coaching staff and players with blue boxes.
An injured Kershaw didn’t pitch in the postseason last year, which culminated in the Dodgers’ five-game victory over the rival New York Yankees in the World Series. Ohtani’s Japanese countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and catcher Austin Barnes were busy warming up in the bullpen and had a clubhouse manager accept their rings.
The Dodgers unveiled their World Series championship flag in center field and a championship emblem on the right field suite level before a 5-4 win over the Tigers in Thursday’s home opener.
“This is the final piece,” Roberts said. “Just to kind of have the fans here to kind of enjoy this with us and close the book on 2024.”
Roberts had not seen the ring ahead of time.
“It’s a symbol for me,” he said, adding that he doesn’t wear rings although he wears a wedding band.
Roberts said he keeps his World Series rings from 2004 (as a player with Boston) and 2020 (as manager with the Dodgers) in a home safe.
The team did not immediately provide any information on the design or contents of the large rings hand-crafted by Jostens, the same company that produced their 2020 rings.
Those featured white and yellow gold with diamonds and sapphires throughout a 14-karat design.
Former Dodger Jack Flaherty started for the Tigers on Friday night, so he’ll receive his ring Saturday.
“We can go beat him up today and give him the ring tomorrow,” Roberts joked.
Flaherty, a native of nearby Burbank, California, started Game 1 of the National League Championship Series and Game 1 of the World Series, both at Dodger Stadium where he attended games as a kid. He joined the Dodgers at last year’s trade deadline and provided stability to a starting rotation rocked by injuries.
“He was the right person at the right time for our club,” Roberts said. “He delivered.”
Utilityman Kiké Hernández got out of his sick bed to participate in the ceremony after missing the home opener a day earlier.
“He’s feeling much better,” Roberts said.
The team gathered behind the mound waiting for everyone to cross the stage and then posed for photos, smiling and admiring the bling on their fingers. A brass band broke into “They Not Like Us.”
“I hope it fits,” Roberts said. “If it ends up on my pinkie, we’ll be in trouble.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb