when did the new york yankees become a baseball team
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City, the other being the New York Mets of the National League. In the 1901 season, the club began play in the AL as the Baltimore Orioles (no relation to the modern Baltimore Orioles). Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the franchise (which had ceased operations) and moved it to New York City, renaming the club the New York Highlanders.[3] The Highlanders were officially renamed the Yankees in 1913.[3]
New York Yankees The team's new ballpark, Hilltop Park (formally known as "American League Park"), was constructed in one of Upper Manhattan's highest points—between 165th and 168th Streets—just a few blocks away from the much larger Polo Grounds. The team came to be known as the New York Highlanders. The name was inspired by a combination of the team's elevated location in Upper Manhattan, and to the noted Scottish military unit The Gordon Highlanders, which coincided with the team's president Joseph Gordon whose family was of Scots Irish heritage.[8] Newspapers initially called the team "Gordon's Highlanders" (e.g. New York World, April 15, 1903), which soon became just "Highlanders". As was common with all members of the American League, the team was often called the New York Americans. They were also dubbed the "Invaders" for a short time in 1903. New York Press Sports Editor Jim Price coined the unofficial nickname Yankees (or "Yanks") for the club as early as 1904, because it was easier to fit in headlines and because "Yankee" was and is a commonly-used synonym for "American".[7][9] A prophetic letter to the editor of the New York Sun, May 7, 1903, p. 8, had raised this question: "Name for the American New Yorks. If the new baseball team is to have a name that is in keeping with the 'Giants,' does it not seem reasonable that if they are the 'New York Americans' they might be called the 'Yankees' or 'Yanks'?"