Pinstripe Empire (6 page)

Stocking the rest of the roster also involved Johnson’s fine hand, with Griffith getting more involved as the days passed. The Pittsburgh connection provided the Americans with a terrific spitball pitcher in Chesbro, who had led the National League with a 28–6 record in 1902, a quality starter in Jesse Tannehill, who had been 20–6 as Chesbro’s teammate, the infielder Wid Conroy, plus the go-between catcher, seventeen-year veteran Jack O’Connor, and outfielder Lefty Davis. The Pittsburgh players, apart from Griffith, were the first Yankees in terms of date of agreeing, and with Pittsburgh having won the National League’s 1902 pennant, these were huge defections.

Griffith may have agreed to play for New York as early as August 1902, even without the club secured, and had been talking up the new team to possible defectors all along. It was said he was even responsible for a delay in Christy Mathewson finally re-signing with the Giants.

Five players who finished 1902 with the Orioles found themselves on the ’03 Highlanders: right-handed pitcher Harry Howell, second baseman Jimmy Williams, pitcher Snake Wiltse, and outfielder Herm McFarland. Third baseman Ernie Courtney played just one game for the ’02 Orioles.

Longtime star Boston shortstop Herman Long, thirty-seven, joined the team as its senior citizen, along with Dave Fultz, from Brown University, who came over from the Athletics after leading the league in runs scored in ’02.

Others who rounded out the roster were Doc Adkins, a pitcher, John Ganzel, a first baseman recovering from smallpox, Monte Beville, a rookie catcher, and pitchers Barney Wolfe and John Deering. (On June 10, New York would send Long and Courtney to Detroit for Kid Elberfeld—the franchise’s first trade.)

Cameo appearances during the first season would be made by Pat McCauley, Jack Zalusky, Paddy Greene, Tim Jordan, Fred Holmes, Ambrose Puttmann, Elmer Bliss, and Eddie Quick: a total of twenty-eight different players who could claim to be original Yankees.

Mike Martin was hired as the team’s trainer, and over the next few years, the team would add a trio of scouts: Toronto-born Arthur Irwin (who would also emerge as a sort of general manager), Eugene McCann, and Duke Farrell, a former Boston catcher.

Irwin, a former infielder and manager of the 1896 Giants, was the best-known of the three, a veteran of the game who saw himself as a “baseball anarchist” because of his opposition to a World Series, which he felt made the regular season and the pennants less important, hurting fourteen of the sixteen teams.

Williams, a St. Louis native, had a great rookie season for Pittsburgh in 1899, compiling hitting streaks of twenty-seven and twenty-six games and finishing fifth in the National League with a .355 average. (The twenty-seven-game hitting streak is still a Pirates club record, better than Honus Wagner, Paul Waner, or Roberto Clemente.) In 1901 he jumped to Baltimore and moved to second base, with McGraw playing third. He led the American League with 21 triples in ’02. He would live until 1965, making him the longest-living principal member of the original team.

Chesbro (name actually pronounced “Cheez-bro”) came from North Adams, Massachusetts. Although we tend to look with scorn at his unsanitary spitball today (the pitch was declared illegal in 1920), it was a legal pitch in his day, and he was a leading practitioner. He would be the team’s number-one starter and would teach the spitball to Howell, who achieved greater success than he ever had before.

Chesbro’s Pittsburgh pitching partner, Tannehill, did not find the success in New York that Chesbro did. He had been released by Pittsburgh, rather than allowed to jump, because owner Barney Dreyfuss felt he was a ringleader of talks with Ban Johnson. But he hated Hilltop Park. “The grounds are on a high bluff overlooking the river and the cold wind blows over the diamond morning, noon, and night,” he said. “A man would have to have a cast iron arm to pitch winning ball under these circumstances.”

William “Wid” Conroy, twenty-six, from Camden, New Jersey, played for Connie Mack at Milwaukee in 1900. In 1902, he actually jumped from the American League to the National, joining Pittsburgh and taking over at shortstop from Wagner, who moved to the outfield. He jumped to New York in ’03 and moved from short to third when the team acquired Elberfeld.

Fultz wasn’t a jumper: His contract had been purchased by New York in March of ’03. He would later go on to earn a law degree and become president of a players’ union formed in 1912. His brief New York career ended in 1905 when his jaw was broken in a collision with Elberfeld.

“Popup John” Ganzel, who came from Kalamazoo, Michigan (later famous as Derek Jeter’s hometown), hit the first home run in Yankee history on May 11, 1903, in the team’s seventeenth game. He was one of four brothers
who played pro ball, and his older brother Charlie preceded him into the majors. The Ganzel family was known as the “first family of Michigan baseball.” On May 5, 1903, Ganzel, playing first base at Hilltop Park, caught a liner, stepped on the base, and threw to Long at shortstop. The team had a triple play before it had a home run.

McFarland, just five foot six, played five seasons in the majors, and his only year in New York would be his last. He’d batted .322 for Baltimore the year before, but it turned out to be a season well above his skills. He had played for Griffith in Chicago in 1901–02, and in spring training of ’02 suffered a scare on a ten-minute run in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Running over a train trestle high above ground, he, Griff, and two others heard a train coming and had to grab onto a railroad tie and dangle over the river, clinging for dear life.

Herman Long’s defection to New York after thirteen years in Boston was a tough blow for National League fans. Four times he had batted .300 for the Beaneaters, and with Fred Tenney, Jimmy Collins, and Bobby Lowe had been part of what was called the Big Four. But his stay in New York lasted only two months.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” as a PA announcer might say today, “these are your 1903 New York Americans!”

The team opened its season in Washington on Wednesday, April 22, with a lineup of Davis in left, Keeler in right, Fultz in center, Williams at second, Ganzel at first, Conroy at third, Long at short, O’Connor catching, and Chesbro pitching.

Getting uniforms made quickly was a challenge, but it was accomplished thanks to the experience of the A.G. Spalding company, provider of team uniforms. Griffith himself had a hand in designing the look, a look that some considered gaudy and inappropriate for a stately New York franchise.

The players wore navy-blue wool jerseys and knickers with four buttons down the front to midchest. On each side was a white letter: N on the right, Y on the left. They wore white belts and gray wool socks. The caps were also dark blue with white stripes emanating from the top center, and no lettering.

Over time, the Highlanders hitters came to use the N.Y. letters to signal baserunners whether they would be swinging on the next pitch—touching the Y for “yes” if swinging, or touching the N for “no” if not—as they plotted hit-and-run plays.

The New Yorkers lost their opener 3–1 to Washington pitcher Al Orth, with Williams driving in Keeler for their only run, in the first inning. The
game took an hour and forty-five minutes and was played before 11,950 witnesses to history, a sellout. Farrell sat with Ban Johnson.

The next day, they beat Washington 7–2 for their first victory, with Howell getting the win.

AFTER FINISHING THEIR first road trip at 3–4 on April 29, the team took the train from Philadelphia to New York for the big home debut the next day.

Would the Americans be a hit with the public? Would fans find their way to Washington Heights?

An overflow crowd of 16,243 passed through the revolving turnstiles of Hilltop Park, with each fan receiving a small American flag to wave. (The team’s first “promo day”!) “Street fakirs, selling everything from a fake score card … vied with each other as to who had the most vigorous and resounding lung power,” wrote Sam Crane in the
Telegram
. The crowd was almost totally adult males, most in coats, ties, and hats, a style that would be the norm at New York baseball games for decades to come. Many watched for free from perches across the street on Broadway known as “Rubberneck Flats.” While not a record-breaking crowd, (18,675 had seen a Philadelphia-Chicago game the summer before, in which Rube Waddell beat Clark Griffith 2–1), it was certainly enough to bring satisfaction to Johnson, Farrell, Devery, and Gordon. Clearly, fans wanted to see American League baseball, were curious about the new team, and had no trouble finding their way up-town. This was going to work!

The players from both Washington and New York exited their new, unfinished clubhouses beyond right-center field and lined up at 3:00 P.M., set to parade toward the infield, each also holding a small American flag. Ropes were drawn across the back part of the outfield, with any ball hit in there counting as a double. The box-seat crowd paid a dollar each to sit on movable folding chairs; eight thousand others filled in the grandstand benches at fifty cents each. Smaller bleachers, along the outfield, held an additional twenty-five hundred at twenty-five cents each. All the seating was placed over concrete foundations.

The opening lineup at the American League Grounds was the same as the road opener, except Courtney was at short instead of Long. Washington’s star was Big Ed Delahanty, who would die in a mysterious fall off the team train crossing near Niagara Falls two months later.

For a home uniform, the Highlanders reversed things. A white wool uniform went with blue socks, a blue belt, and a blue collar. Again there were buttons halfway down the chest, with a blue N on the right and a blue Y on the left. The cap was white with a blue visor and blue stripes originating from the top center. Although the weather was perfect for late April, the Highlanders wore maroon coats over their uniforms for the parade across the outfield at the start of the game.

The gates opened at 1:00 for the 3:30 game, with live music provided by the 69th Regiment Band under the direction of Bandmaster Bayne, who led the crowd in singing “The Washington Post March,” “
Columbia
the Gem of the Ocean” (the most popular patriotic tune of the time), “Yankee Doodle,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The crowd stood, cheered, and waved their flags. (Farrell wanted game times at 4:00 to accommodate the Wall Street workers; 3:30 was a compromise to the deadline needs of newspapers.)

(In an oversight, rainchecks were not part of the ticket, and one day early in the season, the consequence of that was felt when fans at the hilltop were invited back—on their honor—after a game was called. Needless to say, thousands more showed up when word of free baseball spread, breaking down a fence and overrunning the field.)

Joe Gordon was the prominent New York club official involved in the ceremonies. Farrell and Devery were present but did not take part.

While the facility was reported as being only “half-complete,” the
New York Times
reported that “the diamond has been sodded and rolled until it looks as level as a newly covered billiard table, but the outfield is in a rough and rugged condition.” The
Evening Journal
used NEW PARK A MARVEL as a subhead.

“There is a good deal of filling in to be done in right field and ground rules will be arranged in regard to the value of hits made in that direction,” reported the
Times
.

Only six games have been scheduled for this and the following playing days, and then the teams will go over the circuit. It is hoped that by the time the players return from the Western trip everything, to the merest detail, will be completed and that the new club and its team will have a successful season in every respect.

While the big gathering was not overdemonstrative, 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 sod had not yet turned fully green in the outfield, but the infield was beautiful. Phil Schenck was lauded for his efforts.

The hastily assembled park had the biggest seating capacity in the league and remained the biggest until Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis expanded to 17,000 in 1906. Boston’s Huntington Avenue Grounds rose from 9,000 to 12,500 in the decade; Chicago’s South Side Park seated 14,000; Cleveland’s League Park held 11,200; Detroit’s Bennett Park went from 8,500 to 10,500; Philadelphia’s Columbia Park went from 10,000 to 13,600; and Washington’s two American League parks held steady at 7,000. The Polo Grounds, just down Broadway, also had a seating capacity of 16,000 for its Giants.

AS FOR THE first home game, Ban Johnson threw out the ceremonial first pitch to the umpire Tom Connolly, and the band struck up “The Star-Spangled Banner” just as Washington’s first batter was stepping in to hit. Then it was a 6–2 New York victory, played in ninety minutes. The Highlanders scored single runs in the first and second innings and added two in the fifth and two in the seventh. Keeler, who walked, was the first baserunner. Fultz had the team’s first home-field hit and scored its first run. Ganzel had the first RBI (not really a statistic that was yet maintained). The biggest cheers were reserved for Keeler. Chesbro went the distance for the seven-hit victory, holding Delahanty 0 for 5 as New York looked just like what Ban Johnson wanted them to be: world beaters. Everyone went home happy. American League baseball had officially landed on Manhattan Island.

TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF Ban Johnson, the Americans weren’t more than ordinary in 1903. Griffith tried many lineups and relied heavily on Chesbro and Tannehill, but each step forward seemed followed by a step back. He himself got in trouble early, arguing too vehemently with umpire Tom Connolly in just the team’s fourteenth game and finding himself suspended by Johnson for ten days. Keeler took charge.

Ballpark improvements continued, but fans weren’t flocking to the Hilltop, as word spread that it was “unfinished” and “hard to reach.” The opening-day glitter quickly wore off.