The records of the American League Base Ball Club of New York are divided into nine series corresponding to the eight organizations covered in the collection, with one series for material covering a variety of teams. The nine series are Akron Yankees, Binghamton Triplets, Chambersburg Young Yanks, Kansas City Blues, Newark Bears, New York Yankees, Norfolk Tars, Springfield Rifles, and Various Minor League Teams.

This unique collection provides information about the business and financial practices of a highly successful professional sports organization over a period of almost forty years. The collection consists of bound volumes including ledgers, cash books, trial balances, insurance policies, contract record books, contract record file cards, vouchers and invoices, journals, and other business records. The teams with the strongest coverage in the collection are the New York Yankees, Newark Bears, and Norfolk Tars. The collection also includes Yankee Stadium diaries from 1936, 1938, and 1940, which document fan injuries, ejections, and arrests at the stadium. Among the topics covered in the collection are: player salaries, including major players such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio; player transactions, including payments on the purchase of Babe Ruth’s contract from the Boston Red Sox in 1919; gate receipts, both home and away; general business practices; advertising and promotions; concessions; scouting expenses; and travel expenses. Also of interest in the collection is a small amount of material on the Negro Leagues. The Kansas City, Newark, New York, and Norfolk series have documentation on the use of ballparks for the play of Negro Leagues games, including dates, team names, and rent paid.