Late Summer Auction SESSION 2 CLOSING SEPT 21 10PM EASTERN FOR INITIAL BIDS
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/21/2020
The late Gene “Stick” Michael had a modest playing career that spanned from 1966 to 1975 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers. Michael’s last days of a player were with the Boston Red Sox in 1976, but was never used and released in May of that season. Upon retiring as a player, Michael joined the New York Yankees coaching staff, where he especially excelled as a scout. Reggie Jackson gave credit to Michael’s scouting reports that enabled him to belt three home runs against the Dodgers in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. Michael would serve as manager of the Yankees from 1981-82 and as general manager from 1980-81 and 1991-1995 where he was responsible for the drafting of and signings of players like Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada that formed the famed “Core Four” group that led the Yankees to four World Series titles in five seasons.
One of those four seasons in which the Yankees won the World Series was 1998, where the Yankees won 114 regular season games and 125 wins total en route to the title. This and this 1998 World Series Champions ring presented to Gene Michael, which was awarded to the former Yankee player, coach, manager and general manager following the 1998 Fall Classic. This ring features 24 beautiful diamonds that make up the team’s famed interlocking “NY” logo, set on a navy background. Surrounding the logo are another 24 diamonds. The number of diamonds is a representation of 1998 being the 24th World Series championship in franchise history. The outer perimeter of the ring reads “WORLD CHAMPIONS 1998”. The left shank of the ring reads “125-50” followed by the Yankees top hat on bat logo, and the words “BEST EVER” below the logo in raised relief. This signifies the team’s win-loss record that season, including the playoffs, which resulted in a record for most wins in a single season. The right side of the ring features the name “MICHAEL” and the World Series trophy in the foreground of Yankee Stadium, with the word “TRADITION” underneath that. “Balfour” (the ring producer) appears on the inside of the band, along with “©10K”, which is the weight of the gold. Ring size is approximately 12 and weighs approximately 32.8 grams. This ring comes with a LOA from the family of the late Gene Michael.