The Pinstripes Turn 100 Today

From Bobbie Dittmeier:

In a wooden ballpark located on The Hilltop in upper Manhattan, northwest of the Polo Grounds and close to the shores of the Hudson River, the New York Highlanders were ready to open their 1912 season. Their opponents on this day, April 11, were the Boston Red Sox. They were not rivals.

The Highlanders, commonly called the Yankees but a year away from formally taking on the name, had altered their uniforms nearly every year since their arrival from Baltimore in 1903. This season, they had another new look, sported by 23-year-old Ray Caldwell as he delivered the first pitch of the season.

They had added pinstripes.

Theirs were not the first baseball pinstripes. That honor belongs to the Chicago Cubs, who introduced them on their road uniform in 1907. But these pinstripes, as it turned out, would be different.

They were Yankees pinstripes. Born on April 11, 1912. One hundred years ago.

The pinstripes were actually originally black, not the current midnight blue. And in 1913 the Yankees briefly got rid of the pinstripes until they rturned for good in 1915. Dittmeier also talks about some Pinstripe myths in the article, so make sure to check the rest out here.

MLB.com also has a video with an interview with Jeff Nelson about The Pinstripes.