Joe Nathan finally has a World Series ring.

The Twins' career saves leader pitched two of the Cubs' 1,459 innings last season, appearing in three late July games before a roster crunch cost him a chance to finish the year with the eventual world champions. For being a minor footnote in a historic season, "I got a souvenir," Nathan said this week — though it hardly satisfied the desire that still burns to win one on the field.

Still, it's a pretty nice memento, because the Cubs' rings are as remarkable as their curse-breaking season. The 1-square-inch face has a Cubs logo made from 33 rubies surrounded by 72 diamonds surrounded by 46 blue sapphires. Another 108 diamonds, one for each year of the Cubs' title drought, encircle the "World Champions" bezel of the ring, and images of the World Series trophy, "W" flag and Wrigley Field marquee adorn the outside. Altogether, there are 214 diamonds on the rings, totaling 5.5 karats.

If it sounds expensive, it is, though the Cubs have not revealed the price. But Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has ordered an amazing 1,908 of them to be made, a nod to their previous championship in 1908, and is rewarding anyone with even a tangential connection to their victory. Even though rings below the player and coach level won't be made with the most precious stones, it's still a tremendous outlay.

"They've taken it to a level I'm not sure anyone ever has. I give the Ricketts family credit, they're including some ushers, seasonal staff, everybody," said Twins President Dave St. Peter. "It'll probably be precedent-setting. It will be difficult for a team not to follow that example."

That's a nice problem to have, St. Peter quickly added, since it comes with a championship. And teams are generally pretty generous in the wake of a victory parade. In 1991, the Twins provided championship jewelry to every full-time team employee, extending all the way down to the manager of the Twins' retail store in Richfield — St. Peter himself.

"It's a tremendous keepsake," St. Peter said of his World Series ring, which he mostly keeps in storage. "I might break it out for a special occasion, an event that ties specifically to the '91 season. I look forward to passing it on to my boys someday."

Modesty toward actually wearing the rings, even less ostentatious jewelry like those given away in 1991 — it has a diamond-shaped center on a red background, with a large diamond in the middle — is pretty common. Jack Morris owns four World Series rings, from the 1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins and two from the Blue Jays (1992-93), yet keeps them in a safe-deposit box. "I really don't know why. They're the epitome of what we play for, and here I have four of them and I never wear them," Morris said. "I guess jewelry makes me feel constricted. And would I wear just one, or all four and look like Liberace?"

Morris won so many, he was even consulted on the design of the Jays' rings by team President Paul Beeston. "They had me come in and look at some of their various design ideas," he said. "We settled on a really simple design — a Blue Jay with a diamond as its eye."

Bert Blyleven wears his 1987 Twins ring, which features the lowercase "m" logo in diamonds, when he broadcasts Twins games — he also owns one from the 1979 Pirates — but takes it off during the winter. "People love looking at them, and it's really an honor to have the opportunity to wear it," Blyleven said. "So many Hall of Famers never got one — Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew. So you don't take it for granted."

Even if you don't have a huge role in winning it. For instance, can you name the member of the 2016 Twins who now owns a Chicago Cubs World Series ring?

The rather obscure answer: Neil Ramirez opened the season in the Cubs' bullpen and appeared in eight games, totaling 7 2/3 innings, before being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee in late May. The Twins claimed him in June, and the righthanded reliever pitched 14 2/3 innings over eight games before finishing the season at Class AAA Rochester.

Baseball reporters Phil Miller and La Velle E. Neal III will alternate weeks.• phil.miller@startribune.com • Twins blogs: startribune.com/twins

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

The Twins are hoping for a comeback from closer Glen Perkins later this summer, and they're not the only AL Central team banking on a return to form. A look at other comeback candidates:

Indians: Shoulder surgery was supposed to keep Michael Brantley out of a couple of months of games last summer. Instead, he had a second surgery, and Cleveland's best hitter missed his teammates' World Series run. So far, he's exceeding expectations in 2017, with a couple of home runs and a slugging percentage approaching .500.

Royals: Lefty Jason Vargas seemed like a reasonable investment when he put up a 3.71 ERA and helped Kansas City reach the World Series in 2014, the first season of his four-year, $32 million deal. Then his elbow went kablooey. He pitched nine times in 2015, three last summer. Now he's back in the rotation, and the signs are good: one run, total, in three starts.

Tigers: This one might not happen immediately, but the Tigers signed James Loney, a veteran lefthanded first baseman with a lifetime .284 average in 11 seasons, to a contract after he was released by the Rangers. Loney is working his way back via Class AAA, but he could provide valuable depth once he gets the call.

White Sox: James Shields is a former All-Star, but after being traded to Chicago last June, he cratered: a 6.77 ERA in 22 starts. With Chris Sale gone, the White Sox need him to rebound — and stay healthy. The 35-year-old allowed three runs over his first three starts but went on the disabled list on Friday because of a strained right lat.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Sano piling up home runs

Less than three weeks from his 24th birthday, Miguel Sano already has accumulated the second-most home runs at his age in Twins history. Here are the Twins with the most home runs as they turned 24:

Tom Brunansky (73), Miguel Sano (47), Kent Hrbek (46), Oswaldo Arcia (36), Zoilo Versalles (34). Note: Sano turns 24 on May 11.

Brian Dozier was thrown out at second base on Saturday, the first time he had been caught stealing since Aug. 16. His 15 straight successful steals before that, including five this season, gave him the seventh-longest successful stolen base streak in Twins history. (Vince Coleman of St. Louis holds the MLB record with 50 straight steals in 1988-89.)

22 Matt Lawton, June 8, 1999-April 23, 2000

22 Chuck Knoblauch, April 26, 1994-July 4, 1994

21 Zoilo Versalles, July 15, 1965-May 28, 1966

20 Chuck Knoblauch, April 29, 1997-June 7, 1997

18 Denard Span, April 9, 2010 - July 24, 2010

17 Jason Bartlett, Sept. 22, 2006 - June 30, 2007

15 Luis Rivas (2004), Lew Ford (2004), Jacque Jones (2003-04) and Knoblauch (1991) share seventh place with Dozier (2016-17).