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ALL STAR GAMES: 1936 LIGHTS: 1946
Braves Field was the last of the "classic era" ballparks, i.e., those built in the years up to World War I, but it was also the FIRST of that era to be closed down. Like Fenway Park, located less than a mile away, it only had a single deck, but it was truly mammoth in proportions, giving Braves Field the biggest seating capacity of any baseball stadium until Yankee Stadium was built eight years later. There was a very large roof that covered most of the main grandstand, and along both foul lines there was an uncovered "pavilion." In 1916 a small bleacher section was built in right field, which came to be known as the "jury box" because one day there were only twelve fans sitting out there. Unlike Fenway Park, the original field dimensions were enormous, 402 feet to both corners and 440 feet to center field. The field was designed this way because the team's owner favored base-running-intensive games with lots of triples and the occasional inside-the-park home run.
In August 1914, as German armies swept across Belgium and northern France, the Braves abandonded old South End Grounds and moved into Fenway Park, and remained there as temporary tenants of the Red Sox until Braves Field was completed in August 1915. They played the 1914 World Series in Fenway Park and then repaid the favor by letting the Red Sox use brand-new Braves Field during the World Series in both 1915 AND 1916. (See Shared & borrowed stadiums.) There were no more World Series games in Braves Field until 1948, when the Cleveland Indians beat the Braves in the first-ever all-Native American mascot World Series. (The Braves got their revenge when the two teams had their "rematch" in 1995.) If the Red Sox had not lost to the Cleveland Indians in a tie-breaking American League pennant playoff game in 1948, it would have been the first and only all-Boston World Series.
During the 1920s, as Babe Ruth's torrent of home runs changed the very nature of baseball, fans began demanding more of this new kind of bicep-powered action. So, in 1928 the Braves moved in the fences substantially, added bleacher sections in left field and center field, and turned the diamond about six degrees clockwise, resulting in a very short distance of 297 feet to the right field foul pole. That caused too many home runs, however, so they quickly readjusted the fences again and removed those new bleachers. In fact, in almost every year from the late 1920s until the early 1940s they tinkered with the location of the outfield fence and bleachers, ultimately resulting in a MUCH smaller playing area than in the original days. In 1936 they moved home plate backward by about 15 feet, and in 1937 they blasted out a triangular section of the right field pavilion to stretch the distance to the corner back up to a respectable 318 feet. (From 1936 to 1941 the Braves were called the "Bees," and their stadium was renamed accordingly.) After the outfield dimensions more or less settled down (with a very short power alleys and center field), they raised the height of the fence to 20 feet and finally 25 feet. One wonders why in the world it took them so long to decide on a proper outfield configuration...
One of the problems with Braves Field was that there was usually a strong wind blowing in from center field, making it very hard to hit the ball very far. This resulted from the fact that the stadium was situated rather close to the Charles River, which was a sort of funnel for ocean breezes. (It reminds you of Candlestick Park.) The stadium was also right next to a major railroad switching yard, with the tracks paralleling the left field outer wall. The smoke from the locomotives often clouded the field, so they planted a row of fir trees to block this unsightliness, to little avail. On the plus side, Braves Field was easy to get to, with trolleys stopping right in back of the stadium. This vast, wide-open stadium design with a very shallow incline left many fans far from the action and seemed better suited for football games. There was no other baseball stadium like it.
For many years the Braves' attendance figures dwindled, especially during the 1940s when Ted Williams drew the attention of virtually all Bostonians to the Red Sox. That was too bad for the Braves' future Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn. With very little advance warning, in 1953 the Braves became the first East Coast team to pull up stakes and head west, abruptly relocating the franchise to Milwaukee. Thus, Braves Field ended its existence as a major league ballpark after a relatively short lifespan of 38 years.
Boston University acquired the Braves Field property after the Braves left town, and they tore down most of it in the 1950s. The pavilion on the first base side and adjacent the office / ticket sales building (see diagram) were the only parts of the original stadium that were retained. The pavilion was extended slightly on the side closest to where the infield had been, and became the main grandstand of "Nickerson Field," where the Boston University football team still played until 1998, when their football program was terminated. While on a visit to Boston in August 1998, I was passing by on a commuter train and caught a fleeting glimpse of the Braves' former office / ticket sales building; I don't count that as "being there," however.
In 1932 a new pro football team named the Boston Braves was formed, and they played, logically enough, in Braves Field. One year later they changed their name to the Redskins (!) and moved into Fenway Park. The AFL Boston Patriots played football in the Nickerson Field "reincarnation" of Braves Field from 1960 until 1962, and then -- just like the Redskins had done -- moved into Fenway Park for a few years.
SOURCES: Lowry (1992); Ritter (1992); Gershman (1993); Spink (1947)
WEB LINKS: Boston Public Library, zazzle.com, Boston University
FAN TIPS: Bruce Orser, Mike Rodak
