The Yankees are SO yesterday.

The following is an excerpt from this weekend's Dugout Splinters in GameDay.

In the late 1800’s, both Minneapolis and St. Paul had teams in the Western League, whose president was Ban Johnson. Johnson wanted to achieve major league status, so after the 1899 season, he changed his league’s name to the American League to give it a broader appeal. As part of that change, St. Paul moved to Chicago and became the Chicago White Sox.

In 1901, the American League declared itself a major league instead of a minor league, and several franchises in the Midwest moved to larger cities. You might be interested in where the Minneapolis team ended up. The following is from Stew Thornley’s latest book, Baseball in Minnesota: The Definitive History, published by the Minnnesota Historical Society Press:

“It is clear that the Kansas City team was transferred to Washington, a team that moved 60 years later to Minnesota, meaning that the Minnesota Twins actually have their roots in Kansas City. It is nebulous as to whether the Minneapolis team was moved or if it disbanded and a new team was formed from scratch. However, some sources indicate that the Minneapolis club moved to Baltimore for the 1901 season. Two years later this team move to New York and eventually became known as the Yankees. If the Minneapolis team was transferred rather than disbanded, it means the New York Yankees...had its roots in Minneapolis.”

So to summarize: “Yeah, we used to date. She was OK. Moved out east, I think. But now I’ve hooked up with some Twins.”