As hard it might seem to believe, the New York Yankees were once the laughingstock of the American League. Originally founded in 1903 as a team known as the Highlanders for their games in Washington Heights up at rickety Hilltop Park, the current-day site of the Columbia University Medical Center, they were competitive in just two of their first 17 years of existence.
This team paled in comparison to the legendary John McGraw's National League powerhouse New York Giants and were even regarded as less interesting than Brooklyn's beloved topsy-turvy baseball team, then known as the Robins. The one year they had come closest to the pennant, their spitballing ace Jack Chesbro blew it on a wild pitch on the penultimate day of the 1904 season. Twice they finished in last place with over 100 losses, and by 1915, they had already been sold from original shady owners Bill Devery and Frank Farrell to beer distributor Col. Jacob Ruppert and his partner, the dazzlingly-named Army captain Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston.
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