Braves Field - Check it out!

[efin98]

Mother Nature likes to show everyone who the real
big leaguer is! Sometimes it is a game like you relate
at other times it might Lambeau Field at 20 below
zero!

Brownie31

Add in summers where it could be 100+ for a week or raining cats and dogs for most of the month, years where it's 50 degrees in August or 30 degrees in April and September. It's amazing any sports are played in Boston during the summer!


"New England: If you don't like the weather, wait a minute".

[Brownie31]

"New England: If you don't like the weather, wait a minute".

"What follows the rain in Birmingham? Monday."

Brownie31

[efin98]

"What follows the rain in Birmingham? Monday."

Brownie31

It's amazing that anything gets played outdoor sometimes, but the weather is part of sports since the begining of time

[Brownie31]

It's amazing that anything gets played outdoor sometimes, but the weather is part of sports since the begining of time

Nothing is out of Mother Nature's grasp!

Brownie31

[teamrap]

Noticed another remnant of Braves field is still seen: the footprint of the stadium is clearly visible from the air and in the buildings built on the old grand stand area. Plus the old support for the grand stand is visible as a wall for the near goal for the home team, covered in ivy yet still visible as some sort of former support structure above field level as seen here ...

The wall in front of the dormitories at Nickerson Field was not a support for the home plate grandstand ... the grandstand was bulldozed in 1958 and sat as a paved over hill when the Patriots played there in 1960 ... it was completly dug out when the dorms were built ... as a matter of fact the dorms have two floors below ground level

[teamrap]

Interesting dilemma. One of the Boston teams HAD to relocate between 1952 and 1961 with new markets ready for franchises and Boston's inability to support two teams. The Red Sox were the dominant franchise economically in Boston for years. The only time the Braves outdrew the Sox was in the early 1930's, when the Sox stunk and Fenway was desperately in need of upgrade. When Yawkey bought the Sox, rebuilt Fenway and brought in top talent, the Sox blew past the Braves and never looked back. Query what would have happened in Yawkey had bought the Braves instead.

However, the Braves had some great talent in the pipeline when they left Boston. Not only Spahn, Mathews and Aaron, but most of the major stars of Milwaukee were already on the team or in the system. The Sox would have been quite vulnerable if the Braves hung around as Yawkey lost interest in the Sox during the 50's. Ted Williams was the only thing keeping fans in the stands in Boston in the mid-late 50's. I could actually imagine Yawkey teaming with the Athletics or Senators to move to LA and SF before the Dodgers and Giants got the idea. Consider the "Los Angeles Red Sox".

What happens to Fenway if the Sox move? It would probably have been torn down or sold to BU like Brave's Field was. If so, by 1970 at the latest, Boston would probably have gotten a multipurpose stadium for the Braves and Patriots that would have been replaced in the 1990's by a nice retro ballpark. It's also possible that the Braves could have moved to Fenway, but unlikely because of Fenway's size. With extra revenue, Brave's Field could have been significantly remodeled, or its site used for an entirely new stadium.

The most intriguing thing about this alternative universe is the potential impact of Boston's baseball economics freed from Yawkey's racism and the Yankees' shadow. In the NL, Boston might have been dominant beyond what either the Sox or Braves have accomplished. Of course, you would still need good management, and there's never a guaranty of that.

It's interesting in that the Red Sox and Braves were a playoff game away of almost playing a "Subway Series" in 1948 ... in 1949 the Red Sox took the Yankees down to the last game of the season and then became a very bad baseball team with poor attendance until the 1967 "Impossible Dream" season, while the Braves became World Series Champions in 1957 and 1958 ... if the Braves had stayed a few more years, Tom Yawkey may very well had been the one to leave town, because he believed the poor attendance at Fenway Park in the 1950s was not due to his bad teams, but because of inadequate parking ... in 1958 he unveiled a plan to tear down the "Green Monster" and build a left field grandstand with parking, but couldn't get the city to pay for it, as was being done with other urban renewal projects in the city ... and being stubborn he wouldn't foot the expense himself ... his interest in the Red Sox slipped away and when Ted Williams retired in 1960, he totally lost interest in the Red Sox ... if the Braves had just hung around, who knows?

[teamrap]

I would like to know where Braves Field & Fenway Park were in relationship to each other geographically. Were they close by each other or in completely different parts of town as with Comiskey Park & Wrigley Field in Chicago? Also were their fans' demographics different, again as with the White Sox & Cubs?
Brownie31

Fenway Park and Braves Field were down the street from each other ... maybe about a little over a mile or so ... Fenway is two blocks south of Kenmore Square off Brookline Ave ... Braves Field (Nickerson Field) is about 10 blocks west of Kenmore Square, off Commonwealth Ave

[teamrap]

Lou Perrini wanted to stay in Boston at least one more year, to see if the fans would support the team. When faced with the possibility of Bill Veeck and the Browns grabbing Milwaukee first, he had to make the move. Thats why the move was so sudden , announced just a couple of months before the start of the season.Aaron , Mathews, Spahn were all on that team. It would have been interesting to see if the fans would have come out.

One of the major reasons, the Braves left Boston was a lack of fan support ... this lack of support was not because the Braves necessarily had a bad team, but a bad stadium ... Braves Field was a lousy place to see a game and fans hated going there ... beyond the left field (and still there today) is a major railway yard ... the wind at Braves Field was always coming in off the Charles River and blowing in from left field, which was totally open ... it was always windy and this wind brought in smoke from the locomotives constantly ... people couldn't take it and just stopped going there

[efin98]

The wall in front of the dormitories at Nickerson Field was not a support for the home plate grandstand ... the grandstand was bulldozed in 1958 and sat as a paved over hill when the Patriots played there in 1960 ... it was completly dug out when the dorms were built ... as a matter of fact the dorms have two floors below ground level

Fine, it's not support. The shape is off. Sorry for getting excited over the remove possibility of baseball history actually surviving.

[Capt Jack]

Interesting "alternative universe" scenario regarding the Braves staying in Boston and/or the Red Sox moving. can't buy the part about ANY "new" stadium being built within Boston city limits over the past 50 years however...that's where "reality intrudes".

Fifty (50%) percent of assessable property in City of Boston is tax exempt (plethora of colleges, universities, hospitals, churches, city and state government buildings, etc.) , This has made developable acerage an absolute mirage. The Patriots were "rescued" by a last minute hastily assembled package in Foxboro (30 miles away) after the "last ditch" stadium proposal in Boston was voted down in 1970. Otherwise, Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, et al were ready and willing to offer the Pats a home.

The recent "new" Fenway park proposal was laughable....build a replica of Fenway two blocks away...with a gargantuan right field bleachers (field glasses a necessity to see the bullpen from the top row of the bleachers). No room for parking, infrastructure, etc. Thankfully, the Henry group saw fit to "retrofit" the existing park into a very fan-friendly venue!

Braves Field was a deplorable dump for decades. In the 30's, Braves owners tried to get dog racing approved for dates when the Braves were out of town.
The Patriots actually spent $500,000 (quite a sum for that time) in 1960 to "renovate" Braves Field for use as their first AFL field. That was the largest capital investment in Braves Field since 1948 (when lights were installed...many of which lasted until the mid '90's, when BU dumped football). It's inconceivable that, even had the Braves stayed and flourished in Boston during the 50's, that Braves Field would have remined their home.

[teamrap]

Interesting "alternative universe" scenario regarding the Braves staying in Boston and/or the Red Sox moving. can't buy the part about ANY "new" stadium being built within Boston city limits over the past 50 years however...that's where "reality intrudes".

Fifty (50%) percent of assessable property in City of Boston is tax exempt (plethora of colleges, universities, hospitals, churches, city and state government buildings, etc.) , This has made developable acerage an absolute mirage. The Patriots were "rescued" by a last minute hastily assembled package in Foxboro (30 miles away) after the "last ditch" stadium proposal in Boston was voted down in 1970. Otherwise, Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, et al were ready and willing to offer the Pats a home.

The recent "new" Fenway park proposal was laughable....build a replica of Fenway two blocks away...with a gargantuan right field bleachers (field glasses a necessity to see the bullpen from the top row of the bleachers). No room for parking, infrastructure, etc. Thankfully, the Henry group saw fit to "retrofit" the existing park into a very fan-friendly venue!

Braves Field was a deplorable dump for decades. In the 30's, Braves owners tried to get dog racing approved for dates when the Braves were out of town.
The Patriots actually spent $500,000 (quite a sum for that time) in 1960 to "renovate" Braves Field for use as their first AFL field. That was the largest capital investment in Braves Field since 1948 (when lights were installed...many of which lasted until the mid '90's, when BU dumped football). It's inconceivable that, even had the Braves stayed and flourished in Boston during the 50's, that Braves Field would have remined their home.

Jack ...
The light towers at Braves Field were taken down in 1970, not the 90s ... I lived in the dorms overlooking the field, at the time

[Shotgun Shuba]

These are some of my pictures I took last weekend of Braves Field. Man, it was exciting. I must be a baseball geek. This is the famous ticket office/clubhouse

[Shotgun Shuba]

Here is a different shot

[Shotgun Shuba]

This is looking from the inside out towards Agannis St. I can see the Braves followers pouring in for the '48 Series opener through these gates.

[Shotgun Shuba]

The famous plaque. Thank goodness for SABR

[Shotgun Shuba]

The right field bleachers

[Shotgun Shuba]

Looking out towards the Jury Box. I can feel the Babe's aura and Tommy Holmes trotting home.

[Shotgun Shuba]

Under the stands, in the concession areas that remain the same as 1952, they say. I was really craving a dog.

[Shotgun Shuba]

These red seats mystify me. They are the only ones in the stands. They might be left from 1952 as a memory. If somebody knows, please tell me.

[Gary Dunaier]

These red seats mystify me. They are the only ones in the stands. They might be left from 1952 as a memory. If somebody knows, please tell me.

They can't be original seats... they didn't have plastic seats back then. Maybe when they installed these seats they decided to have them be red seats for the reason you state, but these are not original 1950s vintage seats.

[teamrap]

These red seats mystify me. They are the only ones in the stands. They might be left from 1952 as a memory. If somebody knows, please tell me.

Those red seats were put in 10-15 years ago (I think) as VIP seats for soccer ... they have nothing to do with the old Braves

[teamrap]

These are some of my pictures I took last weekend of Braves Field. Man, it was exciting. I must be a baseball geek. This is the famous ticket office/clubhouse

Those were the Braves executive offices, not the club house ... you'd see Lou Perini up there or Billy Southworth, not Sibby Sisti

[Calif_Eagle]

I am trying to find anything that names my grandfather as a player for the Boston Braves. I do not have much info to go on. His name was Maurice Proulx and I know he was an alternate pitcher for two consecutive seasons. My grandmother thinks he played in the late 1940's but is not certain. I looked at every roster list for the Boston Braves on the baseball-almanac website and found nothing. Anyone have any other suggestions? I'm trying to piece together collectibles as well as anything reffering to my grandfather for my father's birthday. Any helpful ideas are appreciated. Thank you!

After reading this I checked the SABR Minor League Data base, a truly Great site btw; & found no listing for anyone named Proulx that pitched in the 1940's. You can check for yourself at http://minors.sabrwebs.com/cgi-bin/index.php Sorry, Jocelyn was hoping to come up with something for you.


EDIT: just noticed that Jocelyn's original post was 3 years ago & that her post total is only 2. She probably wont see this reply, & its sort of out of place on this thread anyway, but nonetheless it IS a truly Great site for those who are interested in any specific players lifetime minor league statistics.

[CROM]

Those are some great pictures Shotgun.. i am mad at myself for just noticing this thread.

[Shotgun Shuba]

Thanks CROM. It was a great evening in October when I stopped by, on a whim, and just walked right in. There was a girl's lacrosse game or something going on. It wasn't 2008 for me, though, it was the early 50's and I was soaking in the history. I don't think most people in NE even know the Braves ever played in Boston. It is cool that so much of the structure still is there.