Highlanders to Yankees

[Patrick Walden]

I'm not sure when the Highlanders offically were renamed the Yankees but I believe it was 1913. Can anyone verify this?

Thanks

[MLBfan]

The Yankees name became official in 1912.

NEW YORK YANKEES
League: AL 1903->
Aka: New York Highlanders 1903-1912
Nickname: New York Porchclimbers 1903-1904, New York Burglars 1903-1904, New York Invaders 1903, Greater New Yorks 1900's, New York Hill Toppers 1903-1912, Bronx Bombers
Franchise: Relocated from Baltimore Orioles 1901-1902.
Called Highlanders both after a famous British Army regiment named Gordon's Highlanders, and because Hilltop Park was their home ballpark and was located on a hilltop overlooking Washington Heights.
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.
http://baseball1.com/bb-data/bbd-tms.html

[Slippery Elm]

MLBfan, that a really great link. Very useful. I bookmarked it, of course.

[afsargent]

Thanks for the link MLBfan. It is very informative.

[Gehrig]

Great link and info !! Thanks ...

[Spencerholic]

I always love telling Oriole fans that the Yanks were originally the Baltimore Orioles. I wonder how very different things wouldve been if another team had moved to New York instead, and the O's stayed put...

[seahorse]

Not only that Spence, but the present day O's were the St. Louis Browns - who always sucked! Great link MLB.

[Slippery Elm]

Ironically, the St Louis Browns of the 1880's was one of the greatest teams ever, and played in what amounted to the first World Series in that era.

The other Browns were a damn fine team in the early 1920's led by George Sisler. And of course they won the AL pennant in 1944 during WW II.

[Jimbo]

Manhattan, shortly after the turn of the century. This picture of a game between the Highlanders and the blue-clad Chicago White Sox. Several buildings can be seen in the vicinity of the Upper West Side ballpark located on Broadway between 165th and 168th streets. The Highlander franchise, formerly based in Baltimore, moved across the borough to the Polo Grounds in 1913 and became known as the Yankees.

[seahorse]

That makes sense. They couldn't very well be called the Highlanders playing down in the Polo Grounds could they? That tower in the far background in Jimbo's picture is the aquaduct tower. Thanks for the information Slippery, I'll have to check further on this.

[Jimbo]

I found a real photo of old Hilltop Park. Notice how the overflow crowd rings the field. This was typical in the Dead-ball era of baseball.

Managers and Umps would literally meet prior to the game to discuss ground rules dealing with balls hit into the crowds.

[seahorse]

I guess the balls must have been pretty soft for people to sit there. Many fatalities?