This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/6/2015
In 1940, the Cincinnati Reds finished first in the National League with a regular-season record of 100–53, winning the pennant by 12 games over the runner-up Brooklyn Dodgers. They went on to face the Detroit Tigers in the World Series and won a hotly contested, seven-game battle. Playing their home games at Crosley Field, the Reds were managed by Bill MacKechnie and led that season by a pair of 20-game winners, Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer. In the hitting department, the Reds were led by Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi, who batted a team-leading .319 with 14 home runs, and first baseman Frank McCormick, who batted .309 with 19 home runs and 127 runs batted in.
This lot features starting center fielder Harry Craft’s 1940 Cincinnati Reds World Series Championship 14K gold ring. Craft, who played just six seasons in the majors (all with the Reds) before going on to serve in the U.S. Navy, collected 103 hits that season and drove in 48 runs. As a fielder he was stellar, posting a .957 fielding percentage that season as he made 284 putouts against just one error in 109 games. The ring is a jewel of a keepsake from that Queen City titlist squad. The 14-karat accessory proudly proclaims "CINCINNATI REDS - WORLD CHAMPIONS" in raised characters that surround a red-colored stone and a genuine diamond in the middle. In relief, "C-REDS" and "1940" adorns each shank and within the size 6 band, an engraved dedication reads: "Presented by Baseball Commissioner to Harry Craft." With lustrous qualities throughout, the item remains a breathtaking tribute to a franchise that was to endure a 35-year drought until winning its next Fall Classic title (1975). The red coloring on portions of the "C" designs has worn off, as has some of the blue coloring that surrounds the facing. The ring weighs 15 grams.