<P> At the end of 1900, Ban Johnson, president of the American League--a minor league previously known as the Western League (1894--1899)--reorganized the league . He added teams in three East Coast cities, forming the American League (AL) as a major league in an attempt to challenge the National League (NL) for supremacy . Plans to add another a team in New York City were blocked by the NL's New York Giants, who had enough political power in New York City to prevent the AL from establishing a team . Instead, a team was placed in Baltimore, Maryland, a city which the NL abandoned when it contracted from 12 to 8 teams in 1900 . </P> <P> Nicknamed the Orioles, the team began playing in 1901 and was managed and partly owned by John McGraw . During the 1902 season, McGraw feuded with Johnson and secretly jumped to the Giants . In the middle of the season, the Giants, aided and abetted by McGraw, gained controlling interest of the Orioles 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 . At the conference, Johnson requested that an AL team be put in New York, to play alongside the NL's Giants . It was put to a vote, and 15 of the 16 major league owners agreed on it, with only John T. Brush of the Giants opposing . 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 . </P> <P> 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 . 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". 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'?" </P> <P> The most success the Highlanders achieved was finishing second in 1904, 1906 and 1910, 1904 being the closest they came to winning the AL pennant . That year, they lost the deciding game on the last day of the season to the Boston Americans, who later became the Boston Red Sox . This had much historical significance, as the Highlanders' role in the pennant race caused the Giants to announce that they would not play in the World Series against the AL pennant winner . The World Series was not skipped again for another 90 years, when a strike truncated the entire 1994 season . It was the last time Boston would beat New York in a pennant - deciding game for a full century (2004). In 1904, pitcher Jack Chesbro set the single - season wins record at 41, which still stands . Under current playing practices, this is most likely an unbreakable record, when you consider that the last thirty game winner was Denny McLain (31) in 1968 . </P>

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