9 of Yogi Berra's World Series Rings Destroyed

[Tabe]

A theft ring that targeted art and sports memorabilia has been busted. Among the items they stole, besides a Hickok belt given to Roger Maris, were 9 World Series rings owned by Yogi Berra. Those rings were melted down and are now lost forever.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ris-mvp-trophy

[Snapolit1]

Horrible. The rings were taken I believe from the Yogi Berra museum on the campus of Montclair State University in NJ. What a horrible lot of human excrement. Enjoy jail losers.

[packs]

Jeeze why even bother stealing something like World Series ring if your intention is to melt it down? There's hardly any value in the scrap metal and diamond chips, etc.

[JustinD]

arrgh.

Honestly, this is one of those situations where the Romans had their punishments on point when pouring molten gold down the throat...

[Brian Van Horn]

Not trying to be cute here. Just noting I am going to the Berra Documentary tomorrow.

[brian1961]

I remember when it was reported about the break-in to the Yogi Berra Museum, and the thieves made off with the 9 World Series rings. I always hoped they would eventually be returned or recovered. Since this happened when poor Yogi was still alive, I could not believe such wretched people would do such a thing. With this new development, I am so angry, I can't say anymore .... --- Brian Powell

[Snapolit1]

It's a nice movie. He was a good man.


QUOTE=Brian Van Horn;2348008]Not trying to be cute here. Just noting I am going to the Berra Documentary tomorrow.[/QUOTE]

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by brian1961

I remember when it was reported about the break-in to the Yogi Berra Museum, and the thieves made off with the 9 World Series rings. I always hoped they would eventually be returned or recovered. Since this happened when poor Yogi was still alive, I could not believe such wretched people would do such a thing. With this new development, I am so angry, I can't say anymore .... --- Brian Powell

I remember reading that the theft broke Yogi's heart.

[Snapolit1]

At the time the local police in Montclair certainly made some comments about it possibly being an inside job. I knew the dude casually who ran the museum. Be nice if they made some follow up comment taking that back if that's not the case.

[JohnP0621]

The sad part is that the scums who did this will most likely do zero jail time
Sad but true.

[jingram058]

I know the Yankees presented Joe DiMaggio with the World Series rings he somehow lost before he passed away. It would great if they would do the same for Yogi Berra's family or the museum. As Steve said, he was a good man.

[D. Bergin]

Glad they finally caught them.

Wonder if these were the same fella's that stole the Carmen Basilio and Tony Zale title belts from the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York back in 2015?

http://www.ibhof.com/pages/news/belts.html

[Tyruscobb]

How valuable now is that sole remaining ring?

[yanks87]

While I think the theft is awful and the melting down of the rings is equally as bad, isn't this essentially what the card companies do when they slice up bats and jerseys for the insertion in cards? Albeit "honest" thievery, but it is essentially the destruction of historical pieces for profit? I might be over simplifying it, but pot v. kettle in my book from a memorabilia perspective.

[mrreality68]

They said the theft ring has been going on for years and anything gold or silver was melted down into discs and sold

Sad when things are stolen but worse when things are destroyed and are not replaceable.

Yogi and others did not deserve it

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by yanks87

While I think the theft is awful and the melting down of the rings is equally as bad, isn't this essentially what the card companies do when they slice up bats and jerseys for the insertion in cards? Albeit "honest" thievery, but it is essentially the destruction of historical pieces for profit? I might be over simplifying it, but pot v. kettle in my book from a memorabilia perspective.

Not comparable. If you own something and destroy it, either intentionally or by carelessness, that's a bummer but really nobody else's concern. If you steal something and destroy it, you've destroyed the possibility of it ever returning to the hands of the rightful owner. You've made the theft permanent.

I'd be very annoyed with myself if I damaged something valuable, but not guilty. Just like I don't feel guilty about wrapping my Bench and Ryan rookie cards in rubber bands when I was a kid.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by packs

Jeeze why even bother stealing something like World Series ring if your intention is to melt it down? There's hardly any value in the scrap metal and diamond chips, etc.

That was my thought when I read the story. Granted, the rings would be much harder to sell intact but you're better off robbing a pawn shop if you're just going to melt the jewelry.

[nwobhm]

Read the title and thought did Topps slice up a bunch of WS rings and glue them to cards…..

If each ring had at least 1oz of 24k gold the melt was still worth $2,000 each. Once they sold off the stones the overall haul would have been north of $20,000. Not a small amount of money to most thieves.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

Read the title and thought did Topps slice up a bunch of WS rings and glue them to cards…..

If each ring had at least 1oz of 24k gold the melt was still worth $2,000 each. Once they sold off the stones the overall haul would have been north of $20,000. Not a small amount of money to most thieves.

For a relatively large group of thieves that was stealing million dollar paintings, $20k would be nothing.

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by Tabe

For a relatively large group of thieves that was stealing million dollar paintings, $20k would be nothing.

LOL… maybe explain that to them…

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by yanks87

While I think the theft is awful and the melting down of the rings is equally as bad, isn't this essentially what the card companies do when they slice up bats and jerseys for the insertion in cards? Albeit "honest" thievery, but it is essentially the destruction of historical pieces for profit? I might be over simplifying it, but pot v. kettle in my book from a memorabilia perspective.

I agree 110% in principle, but I am also of the camp that most of the "game used" stuff that gets cuts up is fake and the real items are safely tucked away in someone's personal stash.

[Fred]

Do they have the death penalty in NY?

Wow - totally sad.