Saturday, April 04

The ornate rings sparkled in a staging area of the New York Hilton Midtown this past month, where general manager Brian Cashman handed them to members of the 2024 Yankees postseason rosters, minutes before those guests of honor were ushered to the stage at the club’s ritzy Welcome Home Dinner.

Each box revealed diamonds, rubies and sapphires, enveloping the Yankees’ classic top hat logo. Dressed in 14-karat white gold, these words were printed in block letters: “American League Champions 2024.” They were beautiful, classy, significant – and, for most players, now collecting dust.

“This isn’t the one we wanted, boys,” Giancarlo Stanton said, cutting through the ballroom chatter. “The one that we want is in front of us. I’d better not see any of you guys wearing these around.”

And so they have not; no slights intended for the good people at Balfour, who expertly crafted the keepsakes in Austin, Texas. First place in the American League means something, but not enough for the Yankees, who will arrive in Los Angeles this weekend for a highly anticipated World Series rematch with the Dodgers.

It seems notable that Cashman distributed the treasures in a muted exchange within the walls of a Manhattan hotel built decades ago. There was no ceremony on the field at Yankee Stadium to acknowledge the previous World Series, not even the traditional Opening Day flag-raising of the franchise’s 41st pennant.

Months later, that five-game Fall Classic feels a lot like these rings – acknowledged, perhaps with a head nod or handshake, and now shoved into the forgotten confines of a closet or drawer. Anthony Volpe said he initially tried to turn the ring down, but was told he couldn’t, so he gave it to his dad, Michael.

“In hindsight, it commemorates the journey of getting there,” Volpe said.

“You think of the celebrations, the guys on the team that aren’t here anymore. But at the end of the day, I just put it away. I don’t need to see it again.”

Clarke Schmidt paused for a few long seconds, trying to find the right words to convey his indifference, then ultimately compared it to “a participation trophy.”

“I don’t want to walk around with this runner-up or second-place ring from when I was with the Yankees, looking back and saying, ‘That was my shining moment,’” Schmidt said. “That’s just the standard here. We’re trying to win the World Series -- every single year.”

“It was cool. It would be cooler if it was a World Series ring,” mused Tim Hill. “It was kind of like, ‘Ahh, that’s not the one we wanted.’ I looked at it once, and then I threw it in a box.”

“First loser,” Carlos Rodón sniffed. “That’s what it represented to me.”

No wonder Yankees captain Aaron Judge says he tries to avoid the highlights of his first World Series when they inevitably pop up on MLB Network. Judge is fanatical about his game preparation, but finds little to be gained by reliving those moments, too packed with anguish even now.

“All I really think is, ‘We lost,’” Judge said. “We could break it down from Game 1 all the way through, but it comes down to, we didn’t get the job done. That’s what really matters, and how you learn from it and try to be a better player from it.”

This past winter, an unusual request landed in Aaron Boone’s inbox. It was a busy offseason, much of it spent helping to direct roster traffic – Juan Soto was among those headed outbound; Cody Bellinger, Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams inbound.

Boone was asked if he had any feedback or requests for the rings. They represented his first pennant as a manager, and could bear his figurative fingerprints, if he so desired. Boone thought for a beat, maybe two, then shrugged.

“If we win the big one, let me get in on that one,” Boone told Debbie Tymon, the club’s senior vice president of marketing.

Perhaps more than anyone, Boone understands what those rings mean, and what they do not. The greatest highlight of Boone’s playing career clinched one, his walk-off home run that toppled the Red Sox in the 2003 AL Championship Series.

Boone is certain he received an AL champs ring sometime in ‘04, but he can’t place the method of delivery. He says they contain “pride, mixed with anguish.”

“We want that first place one,” Boone said. “At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that we were American League champions. That’s important. That matters.”

During the Subway Series against the Mets, Boone shuttled three rings to the visiting clubhouse for Soto, Clay Holmes and coach Desi Druschel. Boone said it was a “fun” task, but it had all the pomp and circumstance of an afternoon grocery run: each ring was contained in a blue Yankee Stadium shopping bag, same as you’d use to carry home a souvenir hoodie or ballcap.

“It was good to have a personal moment with those guys, just for a few minutes,” Boone said.

And for now, that’s where memory lane ends. One after another, members of the 2024 Yankees struck similar notes when asked about the rings. Many were careful to thank the Steinbrenner family, truly appreciative of a gesture that was not inexpensive. The issue is with what they represent.

That top hat logo appears on the Yankees’ AL championship rings, but only the club’s last teams standing get that historic interlocking ‘NY.’

That’s the one they want, and until then, Judge and his teammates continue to chase unfinished business.

“How bad it hurt -- getting all the way there to the end and not getting the final prize -- I think that will stick with guys forever,” Judge said.

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