Huntington Avenue Grounds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Huntington Avenue American League Baseball Grounds | |
|---|---|
| Huntington Avenue Grounds | |
 |
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| Location | Boston, Massachusetts (now demolished) |
| Broke ground | 1900 |
| Opened | April 20, 1901 |
| Closed | After 1911 season |
| Demolished | 1912 |
| Owner | Boston Red Sox |
| Tenants | |
| Boston Red Sox (MLB) (1901-1911) | |
| Capacity | |
| 11,500 seats | |
Huntington Avenue American League Base Ball Grounds is the full name of a baseball stadium that formerly stood in Boston, Massachusetts. Home to the Boston Red Sox (known simply as 'Boston', or the 'Boston Americans' before 1908) from 1901-1911, the stadium sat 11,500. The stadium was located across the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad tracks from the South End Grounds, home of the Boston Braves.
The stadium was the site of the first World Series game in 1903, and also saw the first perfect game in the modern era, thrown by Cy Young on May 5, 1904. The playing field was fairly large by modern standards. Sources say that it was 350 feet to left field, 440 feet to left center field, 530 feet to center field in 1901 and 635 feet to center field in 1908, and 280 feet to right field in 1901 and 320 feet to right field in 1908. The field had many quirks not seen in modern baseball stadiums, including patches of sand in the outfield where grass would not grow, and a tool shed in deep center field that was actually in play.
The Huntington Avenue Grounds was demolished after the Red Sox left at the beginning of the 1912 season to play at Fenway Park. Solomon Court at Cabot Center, an indoor athletic venue belonging to Northeastern University, now stands on Huntington Grounds footprint. A plaque and a statue of Cy Young commemorate the history of this ballpark in what is now called World Series Way.
[edit] Trivia
- The first stadium to ever host a modern World Series game.
- Built across the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad tracks from the South End Grounds, home of the Boston Braves.
- Scene of the first American League - National League World Series in 1903.
- Had the deepest center field in the big leagues (635 feet).
- Built on a former circus lot, there were large patches of sand in the outfield where grass would not grow.
- A tool shed in deep center field was in play.
- Cy Young threw the first modern perfect game there on May 5, 1904.
- Site is now occupied by Northeastern University.
- The World Series Exhibit Room in Cabot Physical Education Center, on the current site, is devoted to mementoes of the 1901-1911 Red Sox era.
- A plaque on the side of the Cabot Physical Education Center, commemorating the location of where the left field foul pole used to be, was unveiled in 1956.
- In 1993, a statue of Cy Young was placed where the pitchers mound and home plate used to be.
- There is a walkway with the Cy Young statue. The walkway is called "World Series Way".
- Although the stadium is best known for hosting the first modern World Series game, it also held the first Perfect Game, set by Cy Young in 1904.
| Preceded by first stadium |
Home of the Boston Red Sox 1901-1911 |
Succeeded by Fenway Park 1912-current |
