ORIGINS OF THE NEW YORK YANKEES

League: AL 1903-present
The New York Yankees started out as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901. The franchise was moved to New York City in 1903 and the team became known as the Highlanders due to the high elevation of the land where their northern Manhattan stadium was located.

Called Yankees first by sportswriters Mark Roth of the New York Globe and Sam Crane of the New York Journal, the name appearing in print for the first time on June 21, 1904 in the Boston Herald. The club wasn't called the Yankees until 1913 when they left Hilltop Park and moved into the Polo Grounds. The Yankees shared that facility with the Giants until 1923, and then moved into Yankee Stadium.

After a fourth place finish in their first season, the 1904 Highlanders managed to finish a close second, some 1.5 games behind Chicago, mainly due to the pitching of Jack Chesbro who recorded 41 wins that year, a twentieth-century record. After another second place finish in 1906, the club plummeted to last place in 1908, losing a club record 103 games. It would be another twelve years until the franchise was a serious pennant contender once again.

A change of ownership in 1914 led to a major rebuilding campaign. The following year the Yankees acquired pitcher Bob Shawkey from the Philadelphia A's, and his 24 wins in 1916 helped the Yankees record their first winning season in six years.

In 1918 they picked up outfielder Duffy Lewis and pitchers Ernie Shore and Dutch Leonard from the Red Sox but only managed a fourth place finish. That season the Yankees would go over to Harrison Park near Newark N.J. to play their Sunday home games, as Sunday baseball wasn't legalized in New York until the following year.

In 1919 the club acquired temperamental submarine baller Carl Mays from Boston in mid-season. His nine wins combined with twenty from Shawkey, gave the Yankees a third place finish that year, their best in eight seasons. That winter the Yankees, on the recommendation of manager Miller Huggins, purchased a pitcher-turned-hitter by the name of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for a record $125,000 cash and a $300,000 mortgage on Fenway Park.

In 1920 (the year that a livelier ball was introduced to the game) the Babe responded to the friendly confines of the Polo Grounds by hitting a record 54 home runs. The fans flocked to see him, and that season the Yankees became the first team to draw over one million customers. And a Yankee dynasty had begun.


Please Email Me At : rjf@symet.net


RETURN TO YANKEE PAGE