IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 306
Congratulating the New York Yankees on the occasion of their 100th 
anniversary. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2003
Mr. SERRANO (for himself and Mr. NEY) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Congratulating the New York Yankees on the occasion of 
their 100th anniversary.
Whereas the New York Yankees were officially acquired in 
1903 and are celebrating their 100th anniversary in 
2003; 
Whereas what would become the most successful team in 
sports history actually began as the Baltimore Orioles in 
1901. When that franchise folded after only two seasons, 
it was purchased for $18,000 by two colorful New York-
ers, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery; 
Whereas New York’s third Major-League team, joining the 
New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers of the National 
League, would play its home games in a hastily con-
structed, all-wood park at 168th Street and Broadway. 
Because the site was one of the highest spots in Manhat-
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tan, the team was named the ‘‘Highlanders’’ and their 
home field ‘‘Hilltop Park.’’ They played their inaugural 
game on April 22, 1903, losing 3–1 to the Senators at 
Washington. New York recorded the first win in fran-
chise history the next day, a 7–2 decision at Washington; 
Whereas the Highlanders nearly captured the American-
League pennant in 1904—only their second season—as 
they finished only 1.5 games behind the Boston Pilgrims 
in the first of three second-place finishes from 1904 to 
1910; 
Whereas after a spectacular fire severely damaged the Polo 
Grounds in 1911, the Highlanders’ owners invited the Gi-
ants to share Hilltop Park. Two years later the Giants 
returned the favor and allowed the Highlanders to move 
into their rebuilt and vastly superior park. With the 
move, the Highlanders officially changed their nickname 
to ‘‘Yankees (by which they had actually been known for 
most of their history).’’ Two years after the move—on 
January 11, 1915—Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Colonel 
Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston purchased the fran-
chise from its by-now disgruntled owners; 
Whereas from 1911 to 1919, the Yankees won as many as 
80 games in a season only twice, but the franchise’s for-
tunes would change forever on January 3, 1920. On what 
is perhaps the most significant date in club history, the 
Yankees purchased the contract of George Herman 
‘‘Babe’’ Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $125,000 and 
a $350,000 loan against the mortgage on Fenway Park; 
Whereas Ruth’s impact was immediate. The Yankees won 95 
games in 1920, their highest victory total to date, and 
captured their first American-League pennant a year 
later. Their attendance at the Polo grounds doubled to
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1,289,422 in 1920 and, in 1921, the Giants notified their 
tenant to vacate the Polo grounds as soon as possible. 
Now bitter rivals, the two teams squared off in the World 
Series in 1921 and 1922 with the Giants winning both 
times; 
Whereas with their departure from the Polo Grounds inevi-
table, the Yankee owners set out to build a spectacular 
ballpark of their own. Baseball’s first triple-decked struc-
ture with an advertised capacity of 70,000, it would also 
be the first baseball facility to be labeled a ‘‘stadium’’; 
Whereas construction began on May 5, 1922 and, in only 284 
working days, Yankee Stadium was ready for its inau-
gural game on April 18, 1923 vs. the Boston Red Sox. 
An announced crowd of 74,200 fans packed Yankee Sta-
dium for a glimpse of Baseball’s grandest facility while 
thousands milled around outside after the fire depart-
ment finally ordered the gates closed. Appropriately, 
Ruth christened his new home with a three-run homer to 
cap a four-run inning as the Yankees coasted to a 4–1 
win; 
Whereas because it was widely recognized that Ruth’s tre-
mendous drawing power made the new stadium possible, 
it would immediately become known as ‘‘The House that 
Ruth Built’’. Later that season, the Stadium hosted the 
first of 36 World Series and the Yankees won their first 
World Championship over their former landlord, the Gi-
ants. Of course, as the Stadium became the stage for a 
staggering number of World titles—now totaling 26—it 
would also become known as ‘‘The Home of Champions’’; 
Whereas on June 1, 1925 in a 5–3 loss vs. Washington, Man-
ager Miller Huggins inserted a 21-year-old rookie first 
baseman as a pinch hitter for light-hitting shortstop Pee
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Wee Wanninger. No one could have imagined at the time 
that this appearance would be the first of 2,130 consecu-
tive games played by Lou Gehrig, who, with Babe Ruth 
and later Joe DiMaggio, anchored some of the greatest 
ball clubs of all time; 
Whereas after a disheartening loss to the St. Louis Cardinals 
in the 1926 World Series, the Yankees rolled to World 
Championships in both 1927 and 1928, sweeping the Se-
ries both years. The 1927 club, the first Yankee team to 
be labeled ‘‘Murderers’ Row’’, became the yardstick by 
which athletic greatness is measured. During that season, 
Ruth shattered his own single-season home run record 
with his 60th on the season’s final day on September 30, 
1927; 
Whereas in his 15 seasons in pinstripes, Ruth helped build 
a tradition of winning with seven American-League pen-
nants and four World Championships. He finished his 
unparalleled career (with the Boston Braves in 1935) 
with 714 home runs, 12 American-League home-run ti-
tles and six RBI crowns, including five seasons with more 
than 150. A charter member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame, 
he remains widely regarded as the greatest player of all-
time; 
Whereas after the 1934 season, Ruth’s last in New York, the 
Yankees purchased the contract of a budding star named 
Joseph Paul DiMaggio from the San Francisco Seals of 
the Pacific Coast League. Two years later, DiMaggio 
made his debut in pinstripes and helped the Yankees to 
an incredible string of four consecutive World Champion-
ships under Manager Joe McCarthy from 1936 through 
1939. The decade of the thirties also produced one of the 
game’s greatest lefty-righty pitching combinations in fu-