Manny Sells a Grill, Cucho Sells His Ring

At about a quarter past 7pm tomorrow the bidding will end. Cucho Rodriguez' ring will be sold to the highest bidder. So far there have been about ten bids and the official Red Sox World Series Championship ring is fetching over $16,000 in the eBay auction. Cucho Rodriguez was listed as a consultant in the scouting department for the Sox from 2003-2006, he was part of the staff when the Sox went all the way and took home the ring. In addition to the 9 guys that were on the field when the last out was played in the World Series, the 11 other pitchers, the rest of the active roster, Larry, John, and Theo, the championship rings were given to a lot of other people in the Red Sox organization. Around 500 Sox staff and players received rings. As a scout, Cucho received one. The bidding continues on the ring, the auction also includes the commemorative box, certificate of authenticity, and all the carrats and gold included in the ring itself. If you're not in the championship ring buying business you might be confused as we are about what exactly the "Professional Championship Warranty" actually warrantees. Last July a different ring was fetching 1/2 million dollar bids.

From the specs on the auction:

14- .07 carat Princess cut diamonds, H-I color grade, VS1-2 Clarity Grade
58- .015 carat round brilliant cut Diamonds, H-I Color Grade, VS1-2 Clarity grade
2- .01 carat round brilliant cut diamonds, H-I color grade, VS1-2 Clarity Grade
10 Natural Rubies cutom cut and fitted into the "B", 2.0 carat, Slightly purplish red, VS1 Clarity
4 synthetic blue saphires around the diamond field

Total diamonds: 74
total Diamond Weight: 1.89 carats
total Weight of the ring: 52 dwt.

The $16,000 bid is about $2k above official appraisal value for the gold and gems in the ring. Though those weights and measures are really only an attempt to add a bit of glitz and gloss to the real story here – a 100% authentic Red Sox World Championship ring is up for sale. Owning Cucho's ring might be a treasure to pass on for the next 86 years, if Johnny Damon were selling his ring on eBay we'd probably bid on it, just so we could throw it at him from the bleachers when the Yanks are in town next.

Image of the ring from the eBay auction page.