John Middleton and Philadelphia Phillies give rings to members of the Wall of Fame

The Phillies gathered some of their most distinguished alumni for a private ceremony at Citizens Bank Park last summer, just months after the current team received championship rings for winning the National League.

John Middleton, the team’s managing partner, felt the alumni also deserved a place on the Wall of Fame.

“The Wall of Famers are an inner circle of people who were particularly important to the organization,” Middleton said. “They were all very special and I thought giving them a ring would be something special for them. It would express our gratitude for what they have meant to us, what they continue to mean to us and what we want them to mean to us in the future.”

The reaction, Middleton said, was incredible. Mike Lieberthal, who played 14 seasons without making the playoffs, joked that he finally got a ring. The ceremony got Middleton thinking about what else he could do to honor his team’s best players.

So he called the designer of those championship rings – Beverly Hills jeweler Jason – and got to work. They designed championship rings for each member of the Wall of Fame, which were handed out as a surprise to the Wall of Famers on Saturday night before David Montgomery became the last member to receive a plaque at the ballpark.

The yellow gold rings are 8.2 carats and feature 479 diamonds and rubies. The Phillies say they are only the third team to honor former players with rings, joining the Yankees and the Diamondbacks. The Wall of Fame ring will be an annual tradition, as each new member receives a ring.

“It’s a big ring,” Middleton said. “When you see this ring in person, it looks like an NLCS championship ring.”

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Discarded numbers for 2008?

It’s been a while since a Phillies player wore number 6, 11 or 26. There’s a reason for that.

“We put certain jerseys away and told the people in the clubhouse, ‘You are not giving out these jerseys anymore until I tell you you can,'” Middleton said.

The Phillies have not yet retired any numbers from the 2008 World Series championship roster, but three of them – Ryan Howard’s No. 6, Jimmy Rollins’ No. 11 and Chase Utley’s No. 26 – have been banned. Those numbers have not been worn since Howard, Rollins and Utley left the team.

Three players have worn Cole Hamels’ No. 35 since his departure in 2015 – including David Dahl this season – but it would be surprising if the 2008 World Series MVP’s number wasn’t also in the running for nullification.

The Phillies once relied on an informal policy that only the numbers of players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame could be banned. Middleton eliminated that policy, which was often ignored by the team anyway, when he banned Dick Allen’s No. 15 in 2020.

” READ MORE: Phillies to retire Dick Allen’s No. 15; Hall of Fame induction could be next | 2020 onwards

All four stars of the 2008 champions are an integral part of the franchise’s history, but there’s a chance they won’t be inducted into the Hall of Fame. If that’s the case, the Phillies will have to decide for themselves how to honor the cornerstones of their second championship team.

Rollins is the team’s all-time hits leader, and Utley trails only Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts in WAR. Howard has the second-most home runs, and Hamels has the fourth-most WAR among pitchers, behind Hall of Famers Roberts, Carlton and Grover Cleveland Alexander. The four 2008 stars may not be Hall of Famers, but they are franchise icons. Could the Phillies retire just one or two? Is retiring all four too much? It’s a decision for Middleton, who created a lengthy document several years ago to lay out the team’s policy on numbers retired.

The new policy allowed him to leave a player like Allen off the roster, who isn’t in Cooperstown but is “practically a Hall of Famer.” The 2008 players could find themselves in a similar situation.

Howard fell off the Hall of Fame ballot after one year, while Rollins and Utley remain under consideration. Utley performed strongly in his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot and appears to have the best chance of getting there. Hamels, who last saw the field as a pitcher in 2020, will need another year before his candidacy is considered.

“I definitely view the retired numbers as more than the honor of being on the Wall of Fame and one step below the honor of being a Hall of Famer in Cooperstown,” Middleton said. “But I think a player’s retired number is much, much closer to being in Cooperstown than just being on the Wall of Fame.”

“I think, like with the Hall of Fame, you have to wait a while to see how opinions evolve. You have to see how the Hall of Fame responds. I think there’s a relatively short list of players who are being considered and will continue to be considered. Maybe they’ll be inducted and the decision will be made. Maybe not.”