In March of 1903, a newly approved American League baseball franchise began play in New York City. The team was known as the Highlanders. In 1912, the Highlanders decided to change their uniforms and added pinstripes to the design. The following April, the franchise moved to the famous Polo Grounds in Manhattan. At that time the team was renamed the New York Yankees, and the baseball dynasty officially began.On January 3, 1920, the most famous baseball transaction of all time occurred. The Yankee organization purchased the contract of the great Boston Red Sox player, Babe Ruth, for a mere $125,000. While Boston would not claim another World Series title for the next 84 years, the addition of Ruth to the Yankees lineup would be the start of the winningest sports franchise in history.

The Yankees went on to clinch their first American League pennant in 1921, and, in 1923, won their first World Series. During this time, construction on a new ballpark was taking place in the Bronx. Fittingly, the first game at the new Yankee Stadium was against the Boston Red Sox, where Babe Ruth hit the park’s first home run. The Yankees went on to win that home opener 4-1.

Of course, Babe Ruth was not the only Yankee player to rack up impressive statistics. In June of 1925, the famed Lou Gehrig began his consecutive games played streak. This lasted 2,130 games before Baltimore Oriole, Cal Ripken Jr., broke it in 1995. In 1932, Gehrig became the first player to hit 4 home runs in a single game, and remains the only Yankee player ever to do so.

The Yankees made another great addition to its lineup in 1934 when they added Joe DiMaggio to the roster. In 1941, DiMaggio began a 56 game hitting streak which has yet to be broken. Other notable Yankee players include Mickey Mantle, who hit the first “tape measure” home run of 565 feet, and Roger Maris, whose 61 home runs record stood for 37 years. Active shortstop, Derek Jeter, is approaching the 3000th hit mark, which would make him only the 28th baseball player to achieve that mark.

The only perfect game in World Series history was pitched by the Yankees Don Larsen in 1956. Pitcher Ron Guidry set a franchise record 18 strikeouts in a single game in 1978. Other notable pitchers include Catfish Hunter and of course, current player, Mariano Rivera, whom some consider the greatest closer of all time.

In 2009, the Yankees opened its season in a brand new stadium in the Bronx. Appropriately, the team went on to win its 27th World Series that year.