Huntington Avenue American League Baseball Grounds is the full name of the

baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

that formerly stood in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and was the first home field for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(known informally as the "Boston Americans" before 1908) from to . The stadium, built for $35,000 (equivalent to $ million in ), was located on what is now

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

, at the time across the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

tracks from the

South End Grounds South End Grounds refers to any one of three baseball parks on one site in Boston, Massachusetts. They were home to the franchise that eventually became known as the Boston Braves, first in the National Association and later in the National Le ...

, home of the Boston Braves. The stadium was the site of the first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

game between the modern

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

s in 1903, and also saw the first

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

in the modern era, thrown by Cy Young on May 5, 1904. The playing field was built on a former circus lot and was extremely large by modern standards - to center field, later expanded to in 1908. It 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 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 Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

. The

Cabot Center The Cabot Center is the home of several indoor athletic teams of Northeastern University Huskies in Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1954 and named in 1957 for patron Godfrey Lowell Cabot, the building houses a variety of facilities for the vario ...

, an indoor athletic venue belonging to

, has stood on the Huntington Grounds' footprint since 1954. A plaque and a statue of

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

were erected in 1993 where the pitchers mound used to be, commemorating the history of this ballpark in what is now called World Series Way. Meanwhile, a plaque on the side of the Cabot Center (1956) marks the former location of the left field foul pole. The Cabot facility itself is barely over a quarter mile away to the southwest from another, still-standing Boston area sports facility of that era,

Matthews Arena Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey. The arena opened in 1910 on wha ...

(built in 1910), the original home of the NHL's

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

when they started play in 1924.

Gallery

File:Huntington Avenue Grounds - DPLA - 16dbbde41fea118f7fb4884c44a76ee2.jpg, alt=Huntington Avenue Grounds (left), 1911. Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevy Collection, Boston Public Library, Huntington Avenue Grounds (left), August 5, 1911. Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevy Collection, Boston Public Library File:Huntington Avenue Grounds - DPLA - 3b0a08e40798406fbb67f1848cde9370.jpg, alt=Huntington Avenue Grounds (right), 1911. Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevy Collection, Boston Public Library, Huntington Avenue Grounds (right), August 5, 1911. Michael T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevy Collection, Boston Public Library File:Huntington Avenue Grounds Boston 1901 Feb 3.jpg, An early diagram of the grounds

References

Ballpark Digest Article on Huntington Avenue Baseball GroundsHuntington Avenue Baseball Grounds at Baseball Almanac
*See

Huntington family Huntington is the surname of three prominent families from the United States of America. The first was active in the eastern region; the second played an important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement, and pioneered and founded the State of ...

{{Greater Boston sports arenas Defunct baseball venues in Boston Defunct college football venues Boston College Eagles football venues Boston Red Sox stadiums Defunct Major League Baseball venues Demolished sports venues in Massachusetts Northeastern University 1901 establishments in Massachusetts Sports venues demolished in 1912 1912 disestablishments in Massachusetts