In a game which features President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the first pitch, Washington’s Walter Johnson gives up an unearned run in the first inning of the home opener, but the ‘Big Train’ will not yield another tally for 56 innings. The Senators beat the team now known as the Yankees, 2-1, switching from the Highlanders, the nickname the team had used since the franchise moved from Baltimore to New York for the 1903 season.
1913 – In a game which features U.S. President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the first pitch, the New York Highlanders become the New York Yankees. Playing their first game under their new nickname, the Yankees lose to the Washington Senators, 2 – 1, as future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson picks up the win for Washington. After giving up an unearned run in the 1st inning, Johnson begins a string of shutout innings that will reach a major league record 56 before the St. Louis Browns score in the 4th inning on May 14th.
On April 9, 1913, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies play the first game in the history of Ebbets Field. A crowd of 10,000 watches the Phillies win, 1-0. The new ballpark is named after Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets.
On April 5, 1913, in Brooklyn Dodger history, in 1913 Genevieve Ebbets, daughter of the club president, throws out the first ball before 25,000 as the new $750,000.00 Ebbets Field opens in Brooklyn. Nap Rucker pitched the 3-2 win over the New York Yankees and Casey Stengel of the Dodgers hits the first inside the…
On March 28, 1913, the St. Louis Browns make an unusual “trade,” sending infielder Clyde “Buzzy” Wares to the Montgomery Rebels a minor league team in exchange for the rental of a stadium. The Montgomery Rebels will allow the Browns to use their stadium during spring training-rent free. he Southern Association Class-A team will return…
1913 – The Federal League is organized as a six-team outlaw circuit and elects John T. Powers president. It will play 120 games at a level equivalent to the lower minor leagues, but will enhance its status considerably in 1914 to challenge the major leagues.
1913 – The New York Yankees become the first major league team to conduct spring training outside of the United States, when they begin the spring in Bermuda, where is projected a series of exhibition games.
1913 – Olympic hero Jim Thorpe signs with the New York Giants of the National League.
1913 – In a story in the New York Times, Detroit Tigers President Frank Navin blames the length of the games on the coaches’ boxes. Navin, reacting to American League President Ban Johnson’s complaint that too many games the previous season had taken two hours to play, says the boxes should be moved back so that the catcher can give the pitcher his signals more quickly. From where they are now, he said, the coaching players can detect the catcher’s signals unless he takes a lot of time to hide them. Navin said this slow signalling is the reason for the longer games.
1913 – The New York Giants give the Yankees permission to use the Polo Grounds for this season only, as the lease on the Hilltop grounds has expired. The team will no longer be known as the “Highlanders” as a result of the move and will remain as a tenant through 1922.
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