Astros Receive World Series Rings Tuesday

HOUSTON, TX — This year's opening days and subsequent home games to follow for the Houston Astros will hands-down be the best opening series in Astros history. Winning a World Series will do that.

Tuesday night was a standing-room only affair as a sold-out Minute Maid Park watched and cheered as their team received their World Series championship rings during a ceremony about 20 minutes before the opening pitch.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred joined Astros owner Jim Crane and his wife, Whitney, on the field for the presentation. Manfred looked in awe when he received his ceremonial ring in what's become a baseball tradition.

And although Houston's 2017 championship ring is approximately 10 percent smaller than the 2016 ring won by the Chicago Cubs, it has flair and pizazz that sparkles and gives all kinds of reminders of the historic 2017 run.

First, there's the bright orange and blue stone surrounding the center 'H' that's filled with 11 diamonds — one for each playoff win with three over the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series, four over the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series and four in the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

There's a section that show the stadium over the city, signifying the unity of Houston coming together after the devastating Hurricane Harvey. There's "Houston Strong" on the ring as well as "earned History," a slogan that became popular and catchy last season.

The crowd cheered loudly as each player walked out to receive their rings, especially for AL MVP Jose Altuve, World Series MVP George Springer, shortstop Carlos Correa, third baseman Alex bregma and all of the pitchers.

The ring ceremony was preceded by a video showing moments from the Harvey flood, highlights from the 2017 playoff run and behind the scenes looks of Josten's making the ring.

Monday's home opener for the Houston Astros was a moving, spine-tingling joy to watch for both fans in attendance and those who watched on TV. After a video recapping the 2017 playoffs and World Series championships, the team unveiled their World Series flag and banner. Minute Maid Park was rocking, long before Houston's 6-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

As for Tuesday's game, highlights through the first five innings included Correa hitting a two-run inside-the-park home run and right fielder Josh Reddick robbing a would-be three-run home run to preserve a 3-2 lead. Starting pitcher Justin Verlander had eight strikeouts through five innings for Houston.

Here are some images from Monday night's win, which was the third in a row for Houston (4-1), who leads the Seattle Mariners (2-1) and Los Angeles Angeles (3-2) by a game apiece.

Top image: Alex Bregman (2) of the Houston Astros, Jose Altuve (27), Carlos Correa (1) and Lance McCullers Jr. (43) pose with their world series championship rings at Minute Maid Park on April 3, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)