Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds

Before the Red Sox were the Red Sox, they were known as the Pilgrims or the Americans. And before they played at Fenway Park, they played at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds.

The Grounds were built in an area of Boston that had been used for circuses. It was located just south of the Back Bay Fens, and north of Roxbury Crossing.

The Americans (officially named the Red Sox in 1908) played at Huntington Avenue from 1901 to 1911. The Grounds saw the first ever modern World Series game between the AL and the NL when Cy Young and the Americans fell to Honus Wagner and the Pirates 7-3, in front of 16,424 fans. Nearly two weeks later, the deciding game 8 was played, with Boston winning 3-0 and taking the Series 5 games to 3.

The Americans won the AL pennant again in 1904, but the New York Giants (the NL champs) refused to play in the World Series.

Also in 1904, Cy Young threw the first modern era perfect game at the Huntington Avenue Grounds against the Philadelphia Athletics. The game was part of a 24.1 inning streak of no-hit innings for Young.

The playing field featured some unusual quirks. The center-field fence was 530 feet from home plate. It was even moved to 630 feet away. There were large sandy swaths of the outfield in which grass didn't grow. There was even a tool shed that was in play.

The Grounds were demolished in 1912 when the Red Sox moved to state-of-the-art Fenway Park. The location of the Grounds is now property of Northeastern University. NU's Solomon Court at Cabot Center now stands on the location.