Surprise, Ariz.

Lance Berkman does not wear his championship ring from the 2011 World Series. It is too gaudy, he said, and he would rather not draw attention to himself.

But that should not imply he is shy about the achievement. Berkman earned the ring with the St. Louis Cardinals by hitting .423 against his new team, the Texas Rangers. In the 10th inning of Game 6, when the Rangers were one strike from their first title, Berkman denied them with a game-tying single off Scott Feldman.

The Cardinals won that night, and the next, and now Berkman is here, at 37, with a chance to make amends. He gladly reminds teammates that he has what they wanted. “It’s fun to dig these guys on occasion about it,” Berkman said. “Those are bragging rights that will last for a long time.”

Berkman considered retirement after last season, when he played only 32 games and had two operations on his right knee. He was not a priority for the Rangers, who had hoped for much bigger moves after losing the American League West to Oakland on the final day of the regular season and dropping the wild-card game to Baltimore.