Rangers' World Series rings prove 'Texas does things big'

ARLINGTON -- Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer never got to experience a real World Series celebration, though he won the Fall Classic with the Nationals in 2019.

In 2020, the Nationals had a subdued celebration following their championship run due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The banner dropping was in front of cardboard cutout fans, and the ring ceremony was over Zoom. So now, Scherzer was more than ready for one to feel real.

“That's pretty cool,” he said of the pregame festivities. “It's going to be pretty cool for myself. I really want to enjoy it with the fans this time, and really soak in that moment to be here and have that special moment. I'm really looking forward to it this week.”

Scherzer, along with the rest of the Rangers players and staff, got a sneak peek at the World Series ring on Friday at a team dinner. Around 60 players, coaches and other on-field staff members were then presented with their rings during an on-field ceremony prior to Saturday’s game against the Cubs.

Rangers public address announcer Chuck Morgan, who has been with the club for 41 years, was presented with the very first World Series ring before Saturday’s game.

“There are no words I can use to describe what it means to get the first one,” Morgan said. “There's so many other people that were probably more worthy than me, but it's a huge, huge honor and there's just no words.”

The ring was created in collaboration with Jason Arasheben of Beverly Hills, who has also been credited with the championship rings for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Golden State Warriors, Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Los Angeles Lakers. This is the first World Series ring that Arasheben has created.

The ring perfectly tells the story of the Rangers' road to their first World Series in franchise history. Arasheben worked closely with the club’s senior vice president of marketing, Travis Dillon, art director Cole Smith and creative director Scott Biggers to seamlessly tell a story through the ring without being too overt.

“I was really surprised,” pitcher Jon Gray said. “Not just the style, but just the shape of it, everything. It’s a lot different than we normally see for the rings, so it was really cool. I was blown away.

“I knew that Texas does things big, so I thought it would obviously be big. But it's just all the things, the ideas and the thoughts that came together. They just tell the story of the year. It’s really impressive. It's more than just a big flashy ring.”

Some components include 103 blue sapphires, signifying the total number of regular season and postseason wins, along with 23 red rubies representing the year 2023. On the alternate top, 49 rubies represent the number of players who were on the active roster at any point in 2023.

Additional detailing was added to note the 11-0 road record in the postseason, including the flight path from Seattle to Tampa to Baltimore to Houston to Arizona and the word "ROAD" made up of the logos of the four teams Texas beat en route to the World Series. Eleven stones are also included on the face of the team logo to represent the number of postseason road wins.

Fifty-two points of diamonds are included in the word “Champions” to honor the first title in the club’s 52-year history, while 16 emerald cut diamonds were added to signify the number of consecutive games the Rangers hit a home run. Ninety stones were placed around the ring to represent the number of regular season wins. One diamond is placed in the World Series trophy to represent the club's first title, and the 3mm stone inside the trophy equals the number of American League pennants the club has won.

Three diamonds placed on one side of the ring represent the three pillars of the Rangers organization: "Compete with passion, be a good teammate, and dominate the fundamentals.” Seventy-two points of diamonds around the bezel represent 1972, the year the Washington Senators relocated to Arlington to become the Rangers.

Thirty stones on the inside of the bezel represent the Rangers' 30 postseason homers, and 2.33 carats on the side of the ring represent the 233 home runs Texas hit during the regular season. The inside of the shank is engraved with each player’s own signature, along with the postseason records from each series and the phrase “As One.” Each ring also includes a piece of leather from a baseball that was used during the World Series.