Derek Jeter says it was just a joke, but he still kinda-sorta tried to put an asterisk on the Los Angeles Dodgers winning a World Series in 2020.
Jeter interviewed Dodgers star Mookie Betts for Fox this week as part of their World Series pregame coverage. And during the sit down, Jeter noted that he’s been told Betts is chasing his own ring total. Jeter has five World Series rings, winning championships with the New York Yankees in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.
Derek Jeter on how Mookie Betts is chasing him for World Series rings:
Jeter: How many rings you got?
Mookie: Three
Jeter: 2 1/2?
— Andrew Harts (@AndrewHarts) October 27, 2025
“How many rings you got?” Jeter asked.
“Three,” Betts answered.
“Two and a half?” Jeter quickly said to draw a laugh out of Betts before clarifying, “I’m just playing. Dodgers fans, I’m playing. It’s a joke amongst friends, I’m just joking.”
The joke, of course, is that one of those rings for Betts came during the 2020 COVID-shortened season. They played less than half a season due to COVID-19, but Betts and the Dodgers still got a whole ring out of it.
Maybe it was just a joke, but it’s one Dodgers fans are sensitive about, much like LeBron James supporters and Los Angeles Lakers fans who are tired of people discounting their bubble championship. The Dodgers played just 60 regular season games that year, but they played 18 postseason games, more than any other team prior to that season.
It went down in the history books as a full championship, with no asterisk needed. But if Jeter wants to make it harder for Betts to catch his ring total, than it will bode well for him to continue “joking” about that half championship.