Yankee history—a farrago of excellence, myth, and icons—began, in fact, in Baltimore.
After two seasons in the city abutting Chesapeake Bay—1901 and 1902—the Orioles departed for New York City, a result of Frank Farrell and Bill Devery buying the defunct operations for $18,000. New York’s team became the Highlanders—later, the Yankees. Baltimore, in turn, lacked a major league ball club until 1954, when the St. Louis Browns moved there; once again, the city boasted a team known as the Orioles.
Washington Heights in upper Manhattan hosted the Highlanders at the new stadium called American League Park; its location earned the label Hilltop Park. On April 30, 1903, the Highlanders inaugurated their new home with a 6-2 victory over the Washington Senators. Ban Johnson, the American League’s president, threw out the first ball.
Building the field was not, in any way, an endeavor easily accomplished. “It wasn’t very impressive,” recounted Marty Appel in his 2012 chronicle Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees form Before the Babe to After the Boss. “It would be a haul for fans to get to this field, and they would expect something worthy of the journey, worthy of a paid admission. The new team had to give them a product that felt big-time. And the clock was ticking.”
Indeed, fans attending the Highlanders-Senators contest saw a field requiring attention. “Although the stands have not yet been completed, the occupants of the half-finished structures seemed to be perfectly satisfied with the seating arrangements,” reported the New York Times. “While the big gathering was not over demonstrative [sic], the absence of fault finding was in itself an assurance to the management that the patrons fully appreciated the difficulties which beset the new club and due credit was given to the almost herculean efforts of the officials who had accomplished so much in such a brief time.
“The diamond, newly sodded and rolled to perfection, was the only spot in the big field which could not be improved.”
Lacking the benefits of mass transit to the environs of the ballpark, fans nonetheless journeyed for a formidable turnout. “When the game was called there were fully fifteen thousand people present, a remarkable number, considering that the rapid transit road will not be completed this season, and that the spectators had to come on surface lines,” stated the New York Herald Tribune. The Times reported the attendance as 16,243.
Wee Willie Keeler scored three runs for New York’s nascent squad. Highlanders hurler Jack Chesbro held the Zeusian power of Ed Delahanty in check by not allowing a hit for the Senators slugger; Delahanty led the American League in 1902 with a .376 batting average, in addition to leading the major leagues in doubles, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
The Highlanders left seven players on base. The Senators, nine. Elapsed time for the game stood at ninety minutes.
In their first season, the Highlanders drew more than 211,000 fans to place 7th of 8th in the American League.
A version of this article appeared on www.thesportspost.com on April 30, 2016.