Baseball history was made on this day 112 years ago when the New York Yankees became the first team to hold spring training outside the United States.

In 1913, just months before the organisation changed the name to the Yankees from the Highlanders, the team trained at what is now known as Bernard Park.

According to the Society for American Baseball Research, the team was led by manager Frank Chance and played against a minor league team from New Jersey named the Jersey City Skeeters.

Chance and the rest of the team’s management were enamoured with what they discovered in Bermuda. The New York Times reported that pitchers appeared to be in “mid-season form” due to the pleasant weather, and players were able to tolerate added conditioning and running.

“The trip to Bermuda, a more genteel setting than previous Yankees camps in Georgia and in Alabama, marked the first time a major league team was venturing outside the United States for spring training,” The New York Times wrote.

“With few cars on the island, the ballplayers rode bicycles to and from practice at the pristine Hamilton Cricket Grounds. At the hotel, they dined in style with provisions, including drinking water, shipped in twice a week from New York.”

Bermuda made a big impression but then the regular season happened. The Yankees got better, but barely. Instead of 102 losses, the team “improved” to 94 defeats and the season was a disaster.

Any plans to return to Bermuda were shelved with the team opting to spend their springs in Houston. Other interested teams, including the Dodgers, cancelled their proposed trips, perhaps fearful of what happened to the Yankees the season after travelling to the island.