Remember That Whole Weird Ben Zobrist World Series Ring Auction Story? It Got Weirder!
Any chance you recall the story from last year about World Series MVP Ben Zobrist purportedly putting his 2016 championship ring up for auction? One of the most important rings in baseball history? Remember how it immediately seemed weird as hell, and Zobrist, through his agent, denied he was selling the ring?
Remember how the auction house was like, no, seriously we have it ready to sell?
Coming up in our August Platinum Auction, Ben Zobrist’s 2016 #Cubs World Series ring! The first Cubs player ring to hit the auction block pic.twitter.com/7DjA35ECXM
— Heritage Auctions Sports (@Heritage_Sport) June 4, 2021
And THEN remember how Zobrist literally sent to the Chicago Tribune a dated picture of himself holding the ring as an even bigger, NO, SERIOUSLY, it is not for sale?
In case anyone still has doubts, Ben Zobrist shows off his 2016 World Series ring today. pic.twitter.com/fGbAJP4iv3
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) June 7, 2021
So what on earth happened? How did it come to pass that both Zobrist and the auction house claimed to have his World Series ring, and how did the auction house believe it had the right to sell a ring that Zobrist hadn’t even transferred to anyone?
Turns out, the story just kept getting weirder, but now we know some more:
Jostens files a lawsuit against an auction house over a "stolen" duplicate of Ben Zobrist’s 2016 World Series ring.
More from @PWSullivan.https://t.co/bHUzaPCYku
— Chicago Tribune Sports (@ChicagoSports) April 12, 2022
OK, so apparently there was a $75,000 duplicate of the ring made at some point – players sometimes get them made so that they can wear the duplicate out and about without risking losing the real one. But the manufacturer, Jostens, alleges that the duplicate was stolen while it was with some other anonymous professional sports team that wanted to see samples (who did it?!?), and wound up at the auction house (which then was selling it on behalf of a collector who says he bought it from Zobrist?).
The duplicate ring is still with the auction house, which will not release the ring to anyone else without proof of title. This is all quite weird. How could someone claim they had title to a ring they’d stolen? Did they forge it? And how was it stolen in the first place? Wild and weird, man. The Tribune article has so many more details, so check it out if you want to read the full story.
