Does King Felix’s Replica Yankees Ring Hold a Deeper Meaning?

I’m trying to make sense of why Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez had a replica Yankees World Series ring in the first place.

On Wednesday afternoon, police in Bellevue, Washington announced they had apprehended three suspects connected to the burglary of high-end items from 123 luxury homes in the Seattle area. One of those homes just happened to be the residence of Mariners front-line starter Felix Hernandez.

Of the items recovered that belonged to Hernandez was a diamond encrusted watch with the words “King Felix” written across the face. The other two were rings — the first being a ruby red American League All-Star ring — the second, however, is much more curious.

At first glance, it looks to be a genuine 2000 Yankees World Series ring. The Yanks beat the Mets that year in five games. Remember when Roger Clemens threw Mike Piazza‘s sawed-off bat in the vicinity of him, and Piazza took umbrage? I still think that whole thing was overblown.

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Anyway, it turns out the Yankees ring was a souvenir given out to the first 18,000 fans, age 14 or younger in attendance on July 19, 2015. If you were thinking perhaps Hernandez threw a no-hitter or some other kind of stellar pitching performance that day, you’d be wrong. Hernandez settled for a no-decision in a 2-1 Yankees win.

According to Mike Mazzeo of the NY Daily News, the same ring can be purchased off of eBay for a whopping $23.39.

So why would a guy who’s going into his 13th big league season own such a trinket? Hernandez was just 14 in 2000. He wouldn’t sign with the Mariners for another two years. Is it because, as I stated on Twitter, it’s the closest he’ll ever get to a World Series ring while pitching for the Mariners?

Or have rumors of years past finally come out in the wash — that Hernandez and the Yankees have always had a kindling affinity for one another — that he would one day anchor the starting rotation in the Bronx?

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Hey, a guy can dream! Speculation aside, it would be nice to know the truth about how and why this item came to be in the possession of the 30-year-old ace. But perhaps he doesn’t want anyone to know… just yet.