# 1912 New York Highlanders season

The 1912 New York Highlanders season was the team's tenth. It was the final season for the "Highlanders" nickname, before officially adopting the already more common "Yankees" name. It was also their final season playing their home games at Hilltop Park. The team finished with a total of 50 wins and 102 losses, coming in 8th, last place in the American League. The club was managed by Harry Wolverton. The New York franchise would not finish in last place again until the 1966 season. To date, this remains the second and last 100-loss season in Yankees history, the other being a few years prior in 1908. After previously appearing on the team's caps, jackets, and even the sleeves of the uniform, this was the first season that the famous "NY" logo would appear on the front of the jerseys.

## Regular season
### Logo and uniforms

For 1912, the curving "NY" migrated from the sleeve to its now-familiar spot on the left breast of the jersey (on some versions of the uniform, though not the one shown here). This was also the year that pinstripes were introduced.

### Team nickname

By this season, the alternate nickname "Yankees" was in very common usage by the media. The New York Times for Opening Day 1912 reported that "The Yankees presented a natty appearance in their new uniforms of white with black pinstripes." The pinstripes were a one-year experiment, but they would return for good on the home uniforms in 1915.
The final game of the season, and the final game for the "Highlanders" at the Hilltop, was played on October 5, 1912. The team moved to the Polo Grounds the following year. Hilltop Park was closed after the 1912 season and was demolished in 1914. It is now occupied by the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Sox | 105 | 47 | .691 | — | 57‍–‍20 | 48‍–‍27 |
| Washington Senators | 91 | 61 | .599 | 14 | 45‍–‍32 | 46‍–‍29 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 90 | 62 | .592 | 15 | 45‍–‍31 | 45‍–‍31 |
| Chicago White Sox | 78 | 76 | .506 | 28 | 34‍–‍43 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Cleveland Naps | 75 | 78 | .490 | 30½ | 41‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 69 | 84 | .451 | 36½ | 37‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 101 | .344 | 53 | 27‍–‍50 | 26‍–‍51 |
| New York Highlanders | 50 | 102 | .329 | 55 | 31‍–‍44 | 19‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1912 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYH | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 16–6–1 | 11–11–1 | 15–6 | 19–2 | 15–7 | 17–5 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 6–16–1 | — | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9–2 | 9–13 |
| Cleveland | 11–11–1 | 11–11 | — | 13–9 | 13–8–1 | 8–14 | 15–7 | 4–18 |
| Detroit | 6–15 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | — | 16–6 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 8–14 |
| New York | 2–19 | 9–13 | 8–13–1 | 6–16 | — | 5–17 | 13–9 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 7–15 | 10–12 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 17–5 | — | 16–6 | 13–7–1 |
| St. Louis | 5–17 | 9–13–2 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 8–14–1 |
| Washington | 10–12 | 13–9 | 18–4 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 7–13–1 | 14–8–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* July 21, 1912: Del Paddock was purchased by the Highlanders from the Dubuque Hustlers.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Ed Sweeney | 110 | 351 | 94 | .268 | 0 | 30 |
| 1B | Hal Chase | 131 | 522 | 143 | .274 | 4 | 58 |
| 2B | Hack Simmons | 110 | 401 | 96 | .239 | 0 | 41 |
| SS | Jack Martin | 71 | 231 | 52 | .225 | 0 | 17 |
| 3B | Del Paddock | 46 | 156 | 45 | .288 | 1 | 14 |
| OF | Roy Hartzell | 125 | 416 | 113 | .272 | 1 | 38 |
| OF | Bert Daniels | 135 | 496 | 136 | .274 | 2 | 41 |
| OF | Guy Zinn | 106 | 401 | 105 | .262 | 6 | 55 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Dutch Sterrett | 66 | 230 | 61 | .265 | 1 | 32 |
| Birdie Cree | 50 | 190 | 63 | .332 | 0 | 22 |
| Earle Gardner | 43 | 160 | 45 | .281 | 0 | 26 |
| Tommy McMillan | 41 | 149 | 34 | .228 | 0 | 12 |
| Jack Lelivelt | 36 | 149 | 54 | .362 | 2 | 23 |
| Bill Stumpf | 42 | 129 | 31 | .240 | 0 | 10 |
| Gabby Street | 29 | 88 | 16 | .182 | 0 | 6 |
| Ezra Midkiff | 21 | 86 | 21 | .244 | 0 | 9 |
| Pat Maloney | 25 | 79 | 17 | .215 | 0 | 4 |
| Cozy Dolan | 18 | 60 | 12 | .200 | 0 | 11 |
| Harry Wolverton | 34 | 50 | 15 | .300 | 0 | 4 |
| Bob Williams | 20 | 44 | 6 | .136 | 0 | 3 |
| Curt Coleman | 12 | 37 | 9 | .243 | 0 | 4 |
| Harry Wolter | 12 | 32 | 11 | .344 | 0 | 1 |
| John Dowd | 10 | 31 | 6 | .194 | 0 | 0 |
| Klondike Smith | 7 | 27 | 5 | .185 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Otis | 4 | 17 | 1 | .059 | 0 | 2 |
| Jack Little | 3 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Benny Kauff | 5 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 2 |
| Gus Fisher | 4 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| George Batten | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Priest | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
| Homer Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Russ Ford | 36 | 291.2 | 13 | 21 | 3.55 | 112 |
| Ray Caldwell | 30 | 183.1 | 8 | 16 | 4.47 | 95 |
| George McConnell | 23 | 176.2 | 8 | 12 | 2.75 | 91 |
| Ray Fisher | 17 | 90.1 | 2 | 8 | 5.88 | 47 |
| Ray Keating | 6 | 35.2 | 0 | 3 | 5.80 | 21 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Jack Warhop | 39 | 258.0 | 10 | 19 | 2.86 | 110 |
| Jack Quinn | 18 | 102.2 | 5 | 7 | 5.79 | 47 |
| Hippo Vaughn | 15 | 63.0 | 2 | 8 | 5.14 | 46 |
| George Davis | 10 | 54.0 | 1 | 4 | 6.50 | 22 |
| Tommy Thompson | 7 | 32.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.06 | 15 |
| Al Schulz | 3 | 16.1 | 1 | 1 | 2.20 | 8 |
| Chet Hoff | 5 | 15.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.89 | 14 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| George Shears | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 9 |