Updated: February 15, 2010 For More Information, Contact: Michelle Wong: Public Relations Specialist mwong05@syr.

edu (917) 402-8926 Brief History of Pre-Steinbrenner Yankees In 1903, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the defunct Baltimore franchise of the American League, the Highlanders, and moved the team to New York. The team started wearing its signature pinstripes in 1912, and was renamed the New York Yankees in 1913. In 1917, Yankee George Mogridge became the first team member to throw a no-hitter in a 2-1 win at Fenway Park. However, the New York Yankees Boston Red Sox rivalry did not begin until 1920, when the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox. The team won its first American League pennant in 1921. In 1922, construction on the old Yankee stadium began, and was finished in 1923. The stadium opened with a 4-1 win over the Red Sox, with Ruth hitting the stadiums first home run. Then, in 1932, Lou Gehrig made history and became the first and only Yankee to ever hit four home runs in a single game. In 1939, Gehrig discovered that he had Lou Gehrigs disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), thus the team created Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at the stadium. Gehrigs number, 4, became the first number in Major League Baseballs (MLB) history to be retired, and Gehrig delivered his famous, Today I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of this earth speech. In 1956, Don Larsen pitched the Yankees first perfect game, and also set the record of having the first and only perfect game pitched in the postseason or in the World Series. CBS purchased 80% of the team for $11,200,000 in 1964. It purchased the last 20% later in the year. During the CBS era, the team began to decline and never went to the World Series. - more -

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History of Post-Steinbrenner Yankees In 1973, George M. Steinbrenner III bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million. Steinbrenner, nicknamed The Boss by many New York tabloids, is infamous for changing managers 20 times in his first 23 seasons with the team. He was also one of the first owners to utilize the free agent market, signing Yankees Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson to multimillion dollar contracts in 1975 and 1977, respectively. Steinbrenner believed in a hands-on approach when it came to running the team, which brought the Yankees 10 division pennant titles and six World Series titles. He also built the franchise into an empire worth $1.2 billion, and contributed to making the Yankees the most expensive team in the MLB. In 1998, David Wells pitched the Yankees second perfect game, the 14th in MLB history. David Cone pitched the teams third perfect game and the 15th in MLB history in 1999. In 2000, the Yankees won their 26th World Championship in the first Subway Series since 1956. In 2004, the team made history again when Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown recorded their 200th victories in back-to-back games. They were the first teammates in Major League history to do so. In 2005, Alex Rodriguez became the first Yankees right-handed hitter to hit 40 home runs in one season since Joe DiMaggio did in 1937. 2008 marked a season of changes. It was the last season played at the Old Yankee Stadium, ended with an emotional speech by Derek Jeter. It also marked the first season with new manager Joe Girardi, who brought the Yankees to win their 27th World Series title in 2009. The New Yankee Stadium also opened in 2009. That year, the team also set an all-time Major League mark with 18 consecutive errorless games, and Derek Jeter broke Gehrigs all-time franchise marks of 2,721 hits.

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Current Yankees As of February 15, 2010, the official team captain is still shortstop Derek Jeter, #2. The Yankees have won 27 World Series titles, in: 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943,

1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009. The team has also won 40 American League Pennants, and 16 East Division Titles. The
team currently has a payroll of $208,097,414. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez, #13, is the most expensive player on the roster, with a salary of $33 million. Jeter is the second most expensive with a $21,600,000 salary, and first baseman Mark Teixeira, #25, coming in third at $20,625,000. Players who will not be returning from the 2009 season include MVP Hideki Matsui, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Coke,

The Yankees will open and close the 2010 season playing the Boston Red Sox, an event which has only happened twice in the past 18 seasons once in 1992 and again in 2005.
Yankees & Community Service (Relates to event team is hosting from media kit) Yankees in the Community (MLB section) Holiday Food Drives Supporting youth recreational outlets MVP scholarship Sports Management mentoring program Rock & Wrap It Up Go to bat for Child Protection Going Green

Hope Week (Huge initiative for Yankees in terms of community service) Introduced July 20, 2009; Ran from 7/20/09 7/24/09 Interesting fact: every single Yankee on the roster participated, not only the famous or wellknown players

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