<P> New York started playing home games at the Polo Grounds in 1913 as tenants of the Giants . Before the 1913 season, the team gained an official nickname for the first time . Either "Yankees" or "Yanks" had been used frequently since 1904 in newspapers such as the New York Evening Journal, since "Highlanders" was hard to fit in headlines . Such unofficial nicknames were common during that era, but thereafter the official name took hold--the New York Yankees . </P> <P> A third major league, the Federal League (FL), began play in 1914 and lasted for two years . While the Yankees did not have to contend with direct competition for fans, as the FL chose to place its New York City franchise in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan, the team nearly lost leading pitcher Ray Caldwell to the rival league after the 1914 season . With the Yankees finishing seventh in 1913 and sixth in 1914, Farrell and Devery sold the team to brewery magnate Jacob Ruppert and former United States Army engineer Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston . The Yankees had rarely been profitable over the previous 10 years, and carried debts of $20,000 . The sale was completed on January 11, 1915, as the pair paid a combined $460,000 . Ruppert called the team "an orphan ball club, without a home of its own, without players of outstanding ability, without prestige ." The new owners intended to spend freely to improve the club's talent level and made a major purchase in 1915, buying pitcher Bob Shawkey from the Philadelphia Athletics . In spite of this, the Yankees' 69 wins were only enough for fifth in the league . After wearing different designs during the Highlanders years, in 1915 the Yankees introduced white uniforms with pinstripes and an interlocking "NY" logo during games at the Polo Grounds; this remains their home uniform design today . For road games, the team began to wear gray uniforms with "New York" across the chest from 1913; the Yankees still wear similar garb . </P> <P> Following the acquisition of third baseman Frank "Home Run" Baker from the Athletics, the 1916 Yankees had 80 wins and contended for the AL pennant for most of the season, before suffering a run of injuries to key players, including Baker . In the Yankees' 1917 season, New York finished in sixth; Bill Donovan, the club's manager since 1915, was fired in the offseason . Ruppert replaced him with Miller Huggins, completing the hire while Huston was overseas fighting in World War I . The Yankees contended for first place in the war - shortened 1918 campaign along with the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, but lost numerous players to military service and were fourth at 60--63 . After the season, the Yankees acquired three players--including outfielder Duffy Lewis and pitcher Ernie Shore--in a trade with the Red Sox, the winners of the 1918 World Series . In 1919, the club made another trade with Boston, acquiring pitcher Carl Mays for two players and $40,000 . The midseason deal provoked a dispute between the teams and Ban Johnson, who unsuccessfully attempted to block it . Mays had a 9--3 pitching record as a Yankee, and the team improved to 80--59 for the season; the mark was good for third in the AL . </P> <P> The 1919 season was the first in which the Yankees played games at the Polo Grounds on Sundays; until then, blue laws had banned Sunday baseball in New York state . The Yankees' attendance more than doubled in 1919, rising to about 619,000 . The Giants soon moved to force the Yankees out of the Polo Grounds, in an effort to secure more Sunday home games . On December 26, 1919, the Yankees made an agreement with the Red Sox to purchase outfielder Babe Ruth for $25,000 cash and $75,000 in promissory notes . The deal, which was announced on January 5, 1920, was called "the most famous transaction in sports" by author Glenn Stout . After tying for the MLB home run lead in 1918 with the Athletics' Tilly Walker (with 11), Ruth broke the single - season record with 29 in 1919 . At the same time, he sought a new contract that would double his $10,000 yearly salary . After the trade, Boston did not win another World Series championship until 2004; an alleged jinx against the Red Sox, which was known as the Curse of the Bambino (after a nickname for Ruth), was first brought up when they lost the 1986 World Series and became widely discussed after Dan Shaughnessy authored a book with the title . The deal became a symbol of "how things (would) always go wrong for the Red Sox and right for the Yankees", according to Stout . </P>

History of the new york yankees baseball team