Dodgers’ David Finley Has Won Record Seven Rings

David Finley may reach a point where he has more championship rings than fingers to put them on.

“That would be a problem I’d love to have,” Finley said. “They’re hard to win.”

Indeed, they are, but Finley became part of a seventh World Series winner earlier this month when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games. The Dodgers became the first team to be repeat champions since the New York Yankees won three consecutive World Series from 1998-2000.

Finley just finished his 11th season as the Dodgers’ vice president of scouting, and Los Angeles also won the World Series in 2020. He also won three rings with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, 2007, and 2013 while working as a scout and assistant to the general manager. Finley’s first championship came in 1997 when he was scouting for the then-Florida Marlins.

Many people work in baseball for their entire career without winning a World Series ring. Finley knows how blessed he is to have seven.

“They’re all very special, but this year is probably a little more because of the back-to-back,” Finley said. “It’s tough to repeat. What I really enjoy is seeing how happy people are when they win their first World Series. It’s such a big thrill, and it’s what you work for.”

One reason the Dodgers have won consecutive championships is Shohei Ohtani. The two-way superstar won the National League MVP award both last year and this year.

Finley knew about Ohtani long before the average American baseball fan. As a high school senior in 2012, Ohtani considered eschewing Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to sign with a major league team as an international amateur free agent, and Finley scouted him for the Red Sox.

Ohtani reportedly narrowed his choices to the Red Sox and Dodgers before opting to stay in his home country after the Nippon-Ham Fighters selected him first overall in the NPB amateur draft. If Ohtani signed with the Red Sox, it would have changed history because they wanted him to concentrate on pitching and drop hitting.

“Yeah, you never know,” Finley said with a laugh. “We knew he could hit. But hitting in high school is a lot different than hitting in pro ball. Absolutely, we didn’t know he was that good a hitter.”

MLB scouts weren’t allowed to talk with Ohtani, so Finley did not meet him until after he came to the United States in 2018 to play for the Los Angeles Angels, picking them in free agency over the Dodgers. Finley and Ohtani finally united before last season when the Dodgers signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700-million contract in free agency.

Ohtani is famously private and doesn’t reveal much about himself in interviews. However, Finley has enjoyed getting to know Ohtani the last two years while also marveling at him as a player.

“We knew how good he was, but he’s just been a game changer,” Finley said. “He’s not just an MVP and a superstar, but signing him changed the franchise. It really did. I mean, we were good before, but to have him and how big a global superstar he is, it’s been awesome. And he’s a great guy, a funny, funny guy, a practical joker, very respectful, just a great guy and obviously a unicorn to the sport.”

Finley is a unicorn with his seven World Series rings, more than any other scout in baseball history. He had been tied with Roy Lee Elder, who worked with the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.

Finley played collegiately at UC Riverside for two seasons, hitting .373. The Oakland Athletics drafted him in the 27th round in 1987, and he spent two seasons as an infielder in their farm system.

Once Finley’s playing career ended, he kept his hand in baseball by throwing batting practice for the San Diego Padres. That led to the Padres offering Finley a job as an area scout in 1991, and he has now worked in scouting for 35 years.

“The last day of the (1990) season, the Padres asked me if I wanted to be a minor-league coach or a scout?” Finley said. “I said whoa. I was expecting to go back to school and finish my degree. I figured I’d be a teacher and a high school coach. I never expected to work in professional baseball again. I chose scouting, and I’ve never regretted it.”

Seven World Series are a strong indicator that Finley made the right choice.