| New York Yankees | |
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| Established 1901 | |
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| Retired numbers | |
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The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in Bronz, New York. They compete in the American League's East Divison. One of AL's original eight teams, the Yankees started out as the Baltimore Orioles. Then they moved to New York and were renamed the Highlanders. Eight years later they would pick up their current name, the Yankees.
The Yankees have 18 divison titles, 40 AL pennants, and 27 World Series titles, all Major League records. 44 Yankees and 11 managers are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Yogi Berra.
They have a long standing rivalry with the Boston Red Sox, mainly due to the Red Sox traded away Babe Ruth causing the "Curse of the Bambino" which saw the Red Sox win zero World Series from 1920 to 2003.
History[]
Origins in Baltimore (1901-1902)[]
At the end of 1900, Ban Johnson, president of the Western League, reorganized the league. He added teams in three east coast cities, forming the American League in an attempt to challenge the National League.
Move to New York: The Highlanders (1903-1912)[]
On January 9, 1903, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery bought the defunct Baltimore team and then moved them to New York City.
The New York Highlanders played their first game on April 22 against the Washington Senators, a 3-1 loss. They recorded their first win the next day against the Senators, 7-2. On their first ever Opening Day, the Highlanders win 6-2 at Hilltop Park against the Senators.
The now famous pinstripes firsted appeared on the Highlanders' uniform on April 11, 1912.
Years at the Polo Grounds (1913-1922)[]
The Highlanders are offically rennamed the "Yankees" after they move into the Polo Grounds, home of the NL's New York Giants. Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston purchased the Yankees for $1.25 million from Farrell and Devery.
George Mogridge became the first Yankee to throw a no-hitter on August 24, 1917, in a 2-1 win at Fenway Park.
Sluggers and the Stadium: Ruth, Gehrig, and Murderer's Row (1923–1935)[]
On January 3, 1920, the Yankees purchase the contract of Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox, starting the "Curse of the Bambino".
The Yankees clinch their first AL pennant, but lose to the New York Giants in the World Series. Construction begins on Yankee Stadium on May 5, 1922.
Yankee Stadium opens with a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on April 18, 1923 before a reported crowd of 74,200. Babe Ruth hits the Stadium's first home run. The Yankees go to the World Series for the third year in row against the Giants and finally win their first championship.
Lou Gehrig begins his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, pinch-hitting for Pee Wee Wanniger. Babe Ruth breaks his own Major-League record with his 60th home run on the 1927 season's final day. The Yankees' sixth season at Yankee Stadium opens with the left-field stands enlarged to three decks. The Yankees become the first team to make numbers a permanent part of the uniform, numbers would become standard for all teams by 1932. Manager Miller Huggins, who lead the Yankees to their first six AL pennants and three World Series Championships, dies of blood poisoning on September 25, 1929.
Lou Gehrig becomes the first player to hit four home runs in a single game in the Yankees' 20-13 win at Philadelphia. He remains the only Yankee to hit four home runs in one game. Babe Ruth hits the 700th home run of his career off Tommy Bridges in the second inning of a 4-2 Yankees' win at Detroit's Navin Field.
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951)[]
The Yankees purchased Joe DiMaggio from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League for $50,000. The Yankees' 15th season at Yankee Stadium opens with the right-field stands enlarged to three decks. The wooden bleachers are replaced by a concrete structure with the distance to center field dropping from 490 to 461 feet. A franchise-record crowd of 81,841 attends a doubleheader sweep of the Boston Red Sox.
Lou Gehrig's playing streak of 2,130 consecutive games ends when he does not make an appearance in a 22-2 Yankees' win at Detroit. Babe Dahlgren plays first base for the Yankees and contributes a double and a home run. "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" is held at Yankee Stadium. His uniform number, 4, is the first to be retired in Major League Baseball and Gehrig makes his famous "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech.