The New York Highlanders' 1903 season

1903 in baseball

300px|thumb|1903 [[1903 Boston Americans season|Boston]] vs [[1903 Chicago White Stockings season|Chicago]] at [[Huntington Avenue Grounds]]-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Boston Americans over Pittsburgh Pirates , in the first modern World Series...

finished with the team in 4th place in the American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 with a record of 72-62. The team was managed by Clark Griffith

Clark Griffith

Clark Calvin Griffith , nicknamed "the Old Fox", was a Major League Baseball pitcher, manager and team owner.-Biography:...

 and played its home games at Hilltop Park

Hilltop Park

Hilltop Park was the nickname of a baseball park that formerly stood in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball club during 1903-1912 when they were known more often as the "Highlanders"...

 (formally "American League Park"). The season began with the Baltimore Orioles relocating to New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. The club was at first officially the "Greater New York" baseball club, in deference to the established New York Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

.

New name

The media dubbed the team as "Highlanders", due in part to playing at one of the highest points on Manhattan ("The Hilltop"), which was somewhat higher in altitude than the bulk of Manhattan and was considerably "uphill" from the Polo Grounds

Polo Grounds

The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...

, the Giants' established home, which sat in the bottomland in Coogan's Hollow, a few blocks east and south of the Hilltop.

"Highlanders" was also originally short for "Gordon's Highlanders", a play on the name of the team President during 1903-1906, Joseph Gordon, along with the noted British military unit called The Gordon Highlanders

The Gordon Highlanders

The Gordon Highlanders was a British Army infantry regiment from 1794 until 1994. The regiment took its name from the Clan Gordon and recruited principally from Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland.-History:...

. The club was also derisively called "Invaders" in 1903, presumably by writers favorable to the Giants.

The New York press was creative with analogous nicknames for teams. In addition to "Highlanders", the team would soon acquire the alternate nickname "Yankees". That word is a synonym for "American" in general, and short for American Leaguers or "Americans" in this case. Given the media's penchant for citing popular culture, that nickname was also possibly influenced by the then-current and hugely popular America-centric George M. Cohan

George M. Cohan

George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....

 Broadway play, "Little Johnny Jones

Little Johnny Jones

For the blues pianist, see Little Johnny Jones Little Johnny Jones is a musical by George M. Cohan. The show introduced Cohan's tunes "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." The "Yankee Doodle" character was inspired by real-life Hall of Fame jockey Tod Sloan.-Background:The...

", and its centerpiece song, "Yankee Doodle Dandy

The Yankee Doodle Boy

"The Yankee Doodle Boy", also well known as " Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones written by George M. Cohan...

". New York writers had similarly coined both the established nickname Brooklyn "[Trolley] Dodgers"

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

 and the nickname "Superbas" that the denizens of Flatbush carried for a while. As with the Highlanders, the latter was based on something unrelated, namely a circus act called "Hanlon's Superbas"; the Dodgers were managed by Ned Hanlon at that time.

Offseason

• Prior to 1903 season: Jack O'Connor
  Jack O'Connor (catcher)
  John Joseph O'Connor , also known as Peach Pie, was a utilityman in Major League Baseball in the American Association, the National League, and the American League, primarily used as an outfielder. He began his career as a left fielder and catcher for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, and he soon moved...
  
   jumped to the Highlanders from the Pittsburgh Pirates
  Pittsburgh Pirates
  The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
  
  .

Roster

1903 New York Highlanders
Roster
valign="top" | Pitchers		valign="top" | Catchers Infielders		valign="top" | Outfielders		valign="top" | Manager

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		82	258	50	.194	0	29
1B		129	476	132	.277	3	71
2B		132	502	134	.267	3	82
3B		126	503	137	.272	1	45
SS		90	349	100	.287	0	45
OF		132	512	160	.313	0	32
OF		103	362	88	.243	5	45
OF		104	372	88	.237	0	25

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
	79	295	66	.224	0	25
	64	212	43	.203	0	12
	22	80	15	.188	0	8
	25	79	21	.266	1	8
	6	19	1	.053	0	1
	7	16	5	.313	0	1
	4	13	4	.308	0	0
	2	8	1	.125	0	0
	1	0	0	----	0	0

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
	40	324.2	21	15	2.77	147
	32	239.2	15	15	3.27	106
	25	213	14	11	2.70	69
	20	148.1	6	9	2.97	48
	9	60	4	3	3.75	14
	4	25	0	3	5.40	6
	1	2	0	0	9.00	0

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
	25	155.2	9	6	3.53	62
	3	19	2	0	0.95	8
	2	7	0	0	7.71	0

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
	1	1	0	0	0.00	3