Giuliani fights to keep Yankees World Series rings amid defamation case

NEW YORK - Rudy Giuliani is currently facing a $148 million defamation verdict that has forced him to part with some of his most cherished possessions to satisfy the judgment.

This includes his bejeweled behemoths-- four Yankees World Series rings bestowed to him by the team’s late owner, George Steinbrenner.

It's the legal equivalent of two strikes, two out in the bottom of the ninth.

"I was a very ardent Yankee fan," he testified. "When I was the mayor, I was described as New York’s No. 1 Yankee fan."

‘What did Rudy Giuliani do?’

On Friday, Giuliani appeared in Manhattan federal court as part of an ongoing battle over assets, over what lawyers for the Georgia women say was his failure to turn over property in a timely fashion, such as his New York City apartment lease.

As a self-proclaimed lifetime Yankee fan, Giuliani argues that the rings now belong to his son and are something of a family heirloom and Yankees good-luck charm. 

In sworn testimony made public this week, he talked about how he and his son Andrew would each put one on for "a special Yankee occasion," like the team’s last World Series win in 2009.

Giuliani testified that when Steinbrenner gave him the rings in 2002, he insisted on paying for them.

"I didn’t think it was appropriate that a mayor get a ring," Giuliani testified.

 He says that was when the owner told him, "these are for Andrew," and told his son to take one for now until he got older. 

Giuliani says he gave his son the other three rings for his birthday in 2018. "They are now yours," Giuliani recalled saying. "These are your rings. I don’t know what I’m keeping them for. They belong to you."

The Yankees also gave him the 1996 ring that he apparently turned down. He recalled showing all four rings to his son and telling him: "These are going to be yours."

Each ring was bigger than the last, Giuliani testified, so much so that "you’d look crazy wearing it."

Giuliani admitted he stopped wearing the rings after a while. "I stopped wearing them after the Yankees stopped winning because it was no longer working," he said. "And then I wasn’t using them anymore."

What happens next?

Lawyers for the former election workers, mother and daughter Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, argue that Giuliani has engaged in a "consistent pattern of willful defiance" of court orders to turn over items.

On Jan. 16, Judge Lewis J. Liman will hold a trial to decide what happens not only to Giuliani’s World Series rings but also his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida. Giuliani claims the condo, estimated to be worth more than $3 million, is his primary residence and should be exempt.

What else has Giuliani turned over?

Mercedes previously owned by Lauren Becall

On Monday, Lawyer Aaron Nathan said Giuliani’s compliance had been spotty, noting that while he finally surrendered a Mercedes previously owned by actor Lauren Bacall, he failed to provide the vehicle’s title.

26 watches

After listing 26 watches in a bankruptcy filing, Giuliani now claims without explanation that 18 watches he turned over to Freeman and Moss are all he has, Nathan wrote. 

Shirt signed by Joe DiMaggio

Giuliani also claims not to know the whereabouts of a shirt signed by Joe DiMaggio or a photo signed by Reggie Jackson, both Yankees legends.

Despite losing nearly everything, Giuliani remains steadfast in his belief that it his belongings were unjustly taken.

Rudy Giuliani