eBay: 2005 White Sox World Series ring for sale

She's a beaut, ain't she? All right, who did it? Which one of the Chicago White Sox put a 2005 World Series ring for sale on eBay? So far, 14 offers have been on the 14k gold, 95-diamond work of art, but the seller is asking $24,999.99. In addition to the market value, there's a lot of sentimental value (for some more than others, apparently) too. It represents Chicago's only World Series championship since 1917.

So, just who IS the seller (beyond the third party who appears to be fronting on the auction web site)? Some clues were left in the ring's description:

2005 Chicago White Sox World Series ring, 14k Gold, 43.8 Grams, Size 12, all real diamonds, Jostens Manufactured, staff members ring. Comes with letter of authenticity from original recipient who was a multi time world series participant as a player, Legend of the game. Guaranteed authentic, ultra rare. A Version ring, same exact ring players received! Please see pictures for details, original recipients name covered to protect privacy.

Lots of good clues, actually. Deadspin has been speculating as to who the seller is, and commenters have chimed in with guesses such as Jermaine Dye, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, Jose Contreras, even A.J. Pierzynski. It's not A.J., even though slashing tires and burning bridges on his way to the Texas Rangers isn't completely out of the realm with him, given that he likes to turn heel like a pro wrestler. And Dye (the MVP of the '05 Series) probably isn't down to his last few dollars, even though it's been a couple of years since he played.

The ring itself also holds more clues.

There's a conspicuous "PD"on one side of the ring, under the Major League Baseball logo and the team's won-loss record, 99-63, from the regular season. A player's number probably would be in its place if the ring belonged to someone on the 40-man roster. But PD — what does it mean? Public Domain? Police Department? Pinch(-hit) double? Punt Downed? Paul Donerko?

How about Player Development? Yeah, that seems right.

Some have speculated that the ring's owner is a coach — such as Tim Raines, Harold Baines or even manager Ozzie Guillen — but it stands to reason that one of them would get their uniform number on the ring, too. So it would say 30, or 3, or 11 and not "PD." Whoever the seller is, the ring must have belonged to one of the 432 persons the Sox gave rings to in 2006. They went to "staff and employees, as well as former players and family members of past team owners," writes the Chicago Sun-Times.

And remember the description: "staff member. ... multi World series participant as a player, Legend of the game. ... same exact ring players received."

All of this kind of describes someone like Moose Skowron or even Luis Aparicio. Moose died in April and maybe this is part of his estate sale. Moose wasn't a Hall of Famer, but he certainly was a legend. Moose also won five World Series with the Yankees. His hand in the '05 White Sox championship was much more symbolic than anything.

Little Looie went to the '59 Series with the Sox (and lost), but won in '66 with the Baltimore Orioles. He could conceivably spare an '05 ring, too.

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