Father-and-Son Use Social Media To Return World Championship Ring to Its Rightful Owner

As children, it’s hard to know what to give our hardworking dads for Father’s Day. Hand-drawn art? Been there. Macaroni picture frames? Done that. So, when eight-year-old Neymar Davalos found a World Series Championship ring on a bathroom sink at Minute Maid Park in Houston, he must have thought, “Perfecto!”

The boy handed the ring to his dad, Ray Davalos, who didn’t bat an eye — it was Father’s Day after all. Recalling the moment, Davalos said, “[Neymar] comes back from the restroom and he’s like, ‘Dad, here’s your Father’s Day gift.’ And I don’t think nothing of it. There’s a lot of replicas.”

What the Davalos boys couldn’t know at the time was that this wasn’t a replica — this was the real thing. The ring, which celebrated the Astros’ World Series victory in 2022, was custom-made and given to Minute Maid Park employee, Reynaldo Muñoz. As soon as he realized he’d lost it, he began looking for it.

It all began when Muñoz accidentally left the ring behind after washing his hands

Muñoz, who has worked at the ballpark for over 20 years, took his ring off to wash his hands. However, he was called to assist with something and left the scene in a hurry, without his ring.

When he’d realized the error of his ways, he returned to find it already gone, admitting he never thought he’d see it again. Still, he thought it couldn’t hurt to try. So, a family friend took to social media and explained the situation, resulting in a digital, city-wide scavenger hunt.

The post was a heartfelt call to action, describing the ring as one of Muñoz’s “joys” and how losing it “ruined” his Father’s Day. The internet was compelled to help, sharing the post until it was eventually brought to Ray Davalos’ attention.

Davalos had to break the news to his son

As soon as Davalos saw the post, he knew what had to be done. He said, “The next morning I woke up and I seen it all over social media and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God.'” Of course, telling his son that he had to return his sweet, well-intentioned gift would be the hard part.

Davalos recalled telling the eight-year-old, “Son, we have to give this back.” The boy protested, at which point Davalos asked, “What would Jesus do?'” Surely, the answer would be to contact Muñoz and set up a meeting to return his prized possession, exactly what they did.

The meeting was captured on video and it’ll restore your faith in humanity

The clip of Neymar and Ray Davalos returning the ring to Muñoz is so wholesome it hurts. It shows the little boy bashfully handing Muñoz his ring, which had his last name engraved on the side. They shake hands and hug, Muñoz’s joy and relief palpable.

“I’m so glad they did the right thing,” Muñoz gushed. “At the end of the day, it’s the best thing you can ask for,” he added. As a token of his gratitude, Muñoz gave them a gift right back: a swag bag filled with Astros merch, including game vouchers, bobbleheads, and t-shirts. Faith in humanity is restored.