1913 Bermuda Spring Training

On March 4, 1913, the New York Yankees boarded a ship bound for Bermuda and became the first Major League Baseball team to hold spring training outside the United States. Manager Frank Chance had orchestrated the trip as an ambitious experiment -- train in isolation, condition pitchers in warm weather, and return to New York with an edge no other club possessed. The venue was Hamilton Cricket Grounds, a field hastily converted for baseball on an island that had never hosted professional ballplayers. The experiment would end in seasickness, a 2-15 start, and a permanent entry in the encyclopedia of good ideas gone wrong.

The Peerless Leader's Vision

Frank Chance didn't do things the conventional way. He'd built a Cubs dynasty through innovation and force of personality, and he brought that same instinct to the Yankees. Standard spring training sites in the American South didn't appeal to him. Bermuda offered something different: warm weather without the distractions of Florida or Texas, an ocean setting that would keep players focused, and the novelty factor that Chance believed would energize a franchise desperate for a fresh start.

The logistics were complicated. Hamilton Cricket Grounds required conversion to accommodate baseball -- the dimensions weren't quite right, and the playing surface needed work. But Chance pushed forward, convinced that the benefits of isolation and climate would outweigh any inconveniences. The Yankees even discussed building a permanent facility on the island for future springs.

Glowing Early Reports

The initial dispatches from Bermuda painted a rosy picture. The New York Times reported that pitchers appeared in "midseason form," with their arms responding well to the warm, humid conditions. Position players worked on fundamentals without the usual spring training circus of exhibitions and local media attention. The isolation Chance had sought was working -- or so it seemed.

Conditioning drills went smoothly. The climate kept players outdoors for longer sessions than would've been possible in colder northern locations. For a brief window, it looked like Chance's gamble might pay off. The sportswriters who'd made the trip sent back enthusiastic copy about a team reinventing its approach to preparation.

The Voyage Home

Everything fell apart on the return trip. The Atlantic crossing proved brutal. Multiple players suffered severe seasickness during the voyage back to New York, arriving on the mainland physically weakened and unable to perform at full capacity. The very isolation that had been Bermuda's selling point -- its location in the middle of the ocean -- became the experiment's fatal flaw.

Players who'd been sharp in Hamilton arrived in New York struggling to recover. The conditioning gains evaporated during the crossing. Some players needed days to regain their equilibrium. For a team that already lacked depth and talent, losing even a few days of peak physical readiness proved catastrophic.

The Disastrous Start

The Yankees opened the 1913 season at 2-15, averaging just 2.7 runs per game. How much of that historic collapse traced directly to the Bermuda aftermath is impossible to quantify -- the roster had plenty of other problems -- but the timing was damning. Players who should've been sharp from six weeks of preparation instead dragged through April as if they were still finding their land legs.

Chance himself wasn't immune. The headaches that plagued him throughout his career -- a consequence of multiple beanings during his playing days -- worsened during the early going. The combination of a struggling manager and a physically depleted roster created a spiral that the Yankees never escaped.

Legacy of a Failed Experiment

The Yankees abandoned the Bermuda experiment immediately and permanently. They never returned to the island. Future spring training sites would be chosen for accessibility, not novelty -- Houston in 1914, then the standard Southern locations that became fixtures of the baseball calendar.

The Bermuda trip holds a strange place in Yankees history: a genuine innovation that backfired spectacularly. The idea wasn't foolish -- training in isolation with good weather had real merit. But the execution failed to account for the most basic logistical problem: getting a team of ballplayers across the Atlantic Ocean without destroying their physical readiness. It was a lesson about the gap between ambition and practicality, delivered at the cost of a season that was lost before it started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the 1913 Yankees train in Bermuda?

Manager Frank Chance wanted to train in isolation with warm weather and no distractions. Bermuda offered all three, plus the novelty of being the first MLB team to hold spring training outside the United States. The venue was Hamilton Cricket Grounds, converted for baseball.

What went wrong with the Bermuda spring training?

The training itself went well, but the return voyage across the Atlantic caused severe seasickness among multiple players. They arrived in New York physically weakened and opened the season at 2-15, averaging just 2.7 runs per game.

Did the Yankees ever return to Bermuda for spring training?

No. The 1913 trip was the only time the Yankees -- or any MLB team -- trained in Bermuda. The franchise immediately abandoned the experiment and moved spring training to more accessible locations.