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DMcD"When and where the team officially became known as the "Yankees" has been under much dispute. Previously, 1913 has been reported as the point of the name change, with sports writer Jim Price credited with naming the team the "Yankees." However, a headline of June 21, 1904, in the Boston Herald refers to the acquisition of outfielder Patsy Dougherty by New York: "Dougherty as a Yankee" while a team post card issued in 1911 reads "New York Highlanders." All things considered, New York's American League team was referred to as the Yankees long before an official name change came about."
- Greatness in Waiting , pg. 8.
The author refers to the team as the Yankees and not the Highlanders throughout the book. A random perusal of archived New York Times sports articles yielded this item from May 30, 1907, in which the team is called Yankees in the headline but Highlanders in the text. This supports the author's (Ray Istorico, who visited the board last spring) contention that the names were interchangeable. Doesn't answer the question when the name was officially changed but does show that the name Yankees was used well before 1913.
