New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York. The Yankees are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1923 to the present, the Yankees have played in Yankee Stadium. more...

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The "Yankees" name originated as a variation of "American", after the team's league. This name is often shortened to "the Yanks". Their most prominently used nickname is "the Bronx Bombers" or simply "the Bombers", a reference to their home and their prolific hitting. A less used nickname is "the Pinstripers", in reference to the iconic feature on their home uniforms. Critics often refer to the team and the organization as "the Evil Empire", a term applied to the Yankees by Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino in a 2002 interview with the New York Times. A term from the team's tumultuous late 70's, "the Bronx Zoo", is also sometimes used by detractors, as well as "the Damn Yankees", after the musical of the same name. These have all been embraced by fans.

One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1901. Then the Baltimore Orioles (not to be confused with the current Baltimore Orioles who were the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901), the team moved to the New York City borough of Manhattan in 1903, then becoming known as the New York Highlanders -- named beacuse their stadium site (Hilltop Park between 165th and 168th streets) occupied some of the highest land (elevation wise) in all of Manhattan. It was not until 1913 that "Yankees" name became the team's sole name. In 1923, the team moved across the Harlem River to the Bronx.

The Yankees have been Major League Baseball's most successful franchise with 26 World Series championships and 39 American League Pennants. They are also the most successful franchise in North American professional sports history, passing the Montreal Canadiens' 24 titles in 1999.

Franchise history

Origins: the Baltimore Era (1901-1902)

At the end of the 1900, Western League president Ban Johnson reorganized the league, adding teams in three Eastern cities, forming the American League. Plans to put a team in New York City were blocked by the National League's New York Giants, who had enough political power to keep the AL out. Instead, a team was put in Baltimore, Maryland, a city which had been abandoned with the NL contracted from 12 to 8 teams in 1900.

The team, known as the Baltimore Orioles, began playing in 1901. In the middle of the 1902 season, the Giants gained controlling interest of the team and began raiding it for players, until the AL stepped in and took control of the team. In January 1903, a "peace conference" was held between the two leagues to settle disputes and try to coexist. One of the results of the conference was that the NL agreed to let the "junior circuit" establish a franchise in New York. The Orioles' new owners, Frank J. Farrell and William S. Devery, found a ballpark location not blocked by the Giants, and Baltimore's team moved to New York.

Read more at Wikipedia.org