Huntington Avenue Grounds
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 the site. A plaque and a statue of Cy Young commemorate the history of this ballpark in what is now called World Series Way.
*
Ballpark Digest Article on Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds*
Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds at Baseball Almanac*
Info at Ballparks.com