Kennedy Gets World Series Ring
Buddy Kennedy at bat in May when he was Player of the Month in the AAA International League starring for the Phillies farm team, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. PHOTO: Lehigh Valley Ironpigs © Aspenphoto | Dreamstime.com
Major League Baseball journeyman player and former Phillies outfielder Buddy Kennedy of Millville will get a World Series Championship ring from the series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers this year because he played for the team during August.
Interestingly, he also had a stint this year for the losing World Series team, the Toronto Blue Jays, so he had a sure thing no matter which team won.
Kennedy remains in the Blue Jays organization.
“I’ve been in that clubhouse and I’ve gotten to know the front office people and it’s a great organization,” he said. “I see why they were in the series.”
Kennedy pointed out he’ll also receive a Blue Jays American League championship ring, which is an understated version of the big one.
World Series rings are huge, elaborate, and ornate, containing as many as 200 diamonds and valued around $75,000, although those who earn one consider it priceless.
It’s a time-honored baseball practice that anyone who spends part of a season with a winning World Series team typically gets a ring. Every so often, a player ends up in the unusual spot of having played for both World Series participants, thus ensuring him a ring regardless of the outcome.
The distribution of championship rings extends beyond the players. Coaches, front office staff, athletic trainers, and other on-field support staff usually receive one.
Kennedy, age 27, made appearances for three teams in 2025. After starting the year with the Phillies, splitting time between majors and minors, Kennedy joined the Blue Jays organization in July. After a month in Triple-A (the highest-level minor league), he was promoted to Toronto’s major league roster, where he made two appearances before being optioned, then claimed by the Dodgers before re-signing with Toronto.
It is common in Major League Baseball for the management of teams to trade, option, purchase, and sell player contracts; plus designate them to Triple-A and later call them up or release them outright. The process can be uncompromising and fickle, with luck playing an outsized role. Kennedy, who has played for five major league teams and their five Triple-A affiliates, called his journeys a “rewarding experience.”
“I’ve found it a pleasure seeing how every team has its own way of doing things in trying to win and every team has the potential to be great,” he said.
He described the quest to be a full-time major league player as “a fortunate opportunity at some times.
“And look what I got—something that many players never get,” he added.
In a true baseball rarity, there was a second player in the same season, Jose Ureña, who also played for both the Blue Jays and the Dodgers this year—among his five total teams—and was guaranteed a ring. It appears from available records that this has never happened before.
The pitcher made 19 total appearances for the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mets, Twins, and Angels.
“It’s not fun, but at the end of the day, it’s business,” Ureña told The Athletic in September about the constant movement.
Kennedy spent his first professional years in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and when that team played in the 2023 World Series, he got a National League championship ring for helping the team in the games he played.
He is a good friend of Millville resident and likely future baseball Hall of Famer Mike Trout and they’ve worked out together frequently.
Kennedy is a grandson of former Major Leaguer Don Money of Vineland, an All-Star third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1970s who began his career with the Phillies.
“Often, a player like Buddy is called up from Triple-A to fill in—maybe for a pinch-hitting role or to replace an injured teammate temporarily, then, boom, he’s right back down. He never has a steady opportunity to get over the hump of playing in the majors,” Money said. “There’s a lot of luck involved, too.”
Money, age 78, has vast knowledge of the game. Following his playing career, he coached for many years, then worked for decades with the Brewers in player development, mentoring and instructing young players like Buddy. He finally retired from baseball 10 years ago to come home, enjoy family life, and “help Buddy a little bit.”
“I enjoyed doing what I was doing. It was a lot of fun,” Money told a Wisconsin newspaper a few years ago. “Baseball is in your blood so you just try to stay in it as much as you can.”
Exactly what his grandson is doing.
