Spring Premium Live and Catalog Auction Ending May 20(1-70) and June 3
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/4/2017
Throughout baseball history, there has been no franchise as storied as the New York Yankees. The 2000 season was the completion of another dynasty run, one that saw the Yankees win their third consecutive World Series championship and their fourth in five years (also winning the title in 1996). Derek Jeter was his usual, highly productive self in 2000, as “The Captain” hit .339 and scored 119 runs. Bernie Williams had a monstrous season, batting .307 with 30 home runs, 121 RBIs and 108 runs scored. Paul O’Neill also knocked in 100 runs. Andy Pettitte led the pitching staff with 19 wins, and closer Mariano Rivera saved 36 games.
New York ran through the Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners, before beating the Mets, four games to one, in the 2000 Subway Series. Serving as the bench coach under manager Joe Torre that season was the lovable Don Zimmer. Zimmer played in the Majors for 12 seasons (even being named an All-Star in 1961) before his coaching days.
Featured here is Zimmer’s 2000 New York Yankees World Series Champions ring, complete with the original presentation box. The face of the ring features the famed NY logo, which is made up of 22 diamonds, and sits on a blue stone, which is surrounded by many smaller diamonds. “WORLD CHAMPIONS 2000” is displayed in relief along the bezel. The left side of the band offers wonderful relief work, including a rendering of Yankee Stadium facade, the team’s logo, and the word “PRIDE” at the bottom. On the other shank appears Zimmer’s name, with “26th” on top of an image of the World Series trophy, which sits inside an image of the stadium. The New York skyline appears in the background, with “TRADITION” down below. The inside of the band is marked Balfour 14K with Zimmer’s name engraved. The weight of this ring is approximately 51.4 grams and the size is an approximate 12. The ring comes with the original presentation box, with glass etching that reads “NEW YORK YANKEES WORLD CHAMPIONS 2000”. This is a very rare item to come up for bid, with the sale of a Jim Leyritz 2000 World Series ring going for over $40,000 in 2014. The item also includes a LOA from Jean Zimmer, the widow of Don Zimmer (who died in 2014).