Holiday Auction Closing December 3
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/4/2016
Long-time front-office employee Scott Calka started out as a DetroitTigers bat boy and mail-room manager in the 1990s, then worked his way up through the ranks to become box-office administrator. As Calka recalled in a 2013 interview, "During my first 14 years with the Tigers, they only had one winning season. I remember years in which people would ask me for Red Wings tickets, rather than Tigers tickets...And then, in 2003, the team almost set a record when they lost 119 games." But the Tigers turned it all around in 2006 thanks in large part to manager Jim Leyland and Rookie of the Year hurler Justin Verlander. At the end of the Cinderella-like season, Calka received this sparkling showpiece. Manufactured by Intergold, the 14K-gold, size 10 ½ ring features a blue "D" insignia logo set amid a bed of diamonds, with a corresponding enameled logo (and additional diamonds) on the name shank. Leyland's team creed, "NINE FULL INNINGS," is engraved inside the band. NM condition. Calka is shown here receiving this very ring at the 2006 AL Championship Ring Ceremony on April 4, 2007. A Jostens presentation box accompanies.