Winners of 3 successive AL pennants from 1969-71 and 318 regular season games (an American League record) in that same period the Baltimore Orioles had indeed supplanted the Yankees as baseball’s powerhouse. In his six Orioles seasons Merv Rettenmund played in only 570 games but his most significant contributions occurred in those consecutive AL championship seasons. Over those games he had 485 hits including 50 home runs and he walked more than 10% of the time. His final slash line as an Oriole was .284/.383/.436 – an impressive 133 OPS+ in his Orioles career.  Merv Rettenmund was a largely unheralded player in his time with Baltimore but he was a crucial bit of glue that held together some of the best Orioles teams of all time.

Presented here is a 1971 Orioles AL Championship ring that was presented to player Merv Rettenmund. The ring features a large orange stone set atop a black stone surrounded by the words "BALTIMORE ORIOLES 1971 A. L. CHAMPIONS". On one side is "OF RETTUNMUND 14” bannered above pennants with "1969 1970 1971" and the words "THREE STRAIGHT" all sitting above a raised image of the American League logo. On the other side is "JAPANESE TOUR 1971" and a raised image of the Baltimore Oriole logo above a globe with Japan and the far east with some Japanese characters below. Inside stamped "BALFOUR 10K". Ring shows only minor wear.