RELATED LINKS » 1927: Robertson vs. Bush: 17 Innings Each » 1935: Babe Ruth calls it quits Book Excerpts » "The Bees settled into seventh place for four years in a row. In addition, the ballpark itself, Braves Field, was deteriorating": Leonard Koppett Around the Web » This Date in Baseball - June 2 from dfw.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

when over 40,000 fans jammed the single-decked grandstand to see the Braves defeat St. Louis 3-1 on a spacious field that was 402' down the left-field line and 520' to center. Those distances were shortened over the years, but the left-field fence remained 25' high, and a 10' wall in right guarded the "Jury Box," a small bleacher section with extremely boisterous fans. Home to the Braves until their move to Milwaukee, the park also hosted the Red Sox' home WS games in 1915 and 1916 and their Sunday games from 1929 to 1932, and was the scene of ML baseball's longest game, a 26-inning tie between the Dodgers and Braves on May 1, 1920. It is now the site of Boston University's Nickerson Field, and the seats along the right field foul line and the Gaffney Street entrance still stand. (SCL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » March 20, 1915: The Braves break ground on Commonwealth Avenue and begin construction of Braves Field. Owner Gaffney wants a large enough park so that inside-the-park homers can be hit in three directions. The field will open on August 18th. » August 18, 1915: The new Braves Field opens in Boston. An estimated 46,500 jam the park to see the Braves and Dick Rudolph beat the Cards, 3–1. » October 7, 1916: Despite a 4-run Brooklyn rally in the 9th, the Red Sox defeat Rube Marquard 6–5 to win Game One of the World Series at Braves Field. Ernie Shore gets the win, Carl Mays a save. The Sox turn four double plays, including a spectacular 9-2 where Harry Hooper makes the catch from a sitting position and quickly gets up to throw out Zack Wheat at the plate. » August 16, 1921: The Braves Walter Cruise connects off the Cubs Grover Alexander for the 2nd home run hit out of mammoth Braves Field. The first home run, also to RF, was hit by Cruise in 1917. There will be 38 home runs in Braves Field this year: 34 inside the park, three bounce homers, and Cruise's missile. Braves pitcher Dana Fillingim is the beneficiary of the offense as he beats Alexander, 8–6. » April 29, 1922: The NY Giants collect 20 hits, including four inside-the-park home runs, in windswept Braves Field in Boston. George Kelly hits 2, one in the 4th and another in the 9th, and Ross Youngs and Dave Bancroft hit the others. Youngs includes the cycle in his five hits. Phil Douglas coasts to a 15–4 win. » February 20, 1923: Christy Mathewson becomes president of the Boston Braves after buying the club for $300,000 with New York attorney Judge Emil Fuchs and Bostonian James McDonough. The deal does not include Braves Field, which still belongs to James Gaffney. There are also 85 minority stockholders. » May 28, 1925: At Braves Field, Giants catcher Frank Snyder breaks an 8th inning tie with a 430-foot drive over the left field wall, the first home run ever hit over the left field barrier. New York wins, 8–6. » February 20, 1929: The Red Sox announce they will play Sunday games, allowed for the first time in Boston, at Braves Field, because Fenway Park is located too close to a church. » April 28, 1929: The Red Sox play the first Sunday game in Boston history, at Braves Field, losing to the A's 7–3. Protests by a few members of a nearby church are the reason for the shift from Fenway. The Braves, rained out of their scheduled Sunday game on April 21, will play their first Sunday home game on May 5. Starter Red Ruffing gives up four runs in the 6th, including consecutive homers by Miller and Dykes. When Milt Gaston takes over in the 7th he pitches to his brother Alex, the 2nd battery of brothers in AL history: Tommy and Homer Thompson, one game in 1912 for the Yankees, were the first. » August 2, 1931: The Red Sox and the third-place Yankees split a Sunday doubleheader before a record 40,000, played at Braves Field because of religious restrictions involving Fenway. Former Boston P Red Ruffing wins the first game 4–1, and ex-New Yorker Wilcy Moore blanks his former mates 1–0 in the nightcap. Moore allows just three singles in topping George Pipgras. The Yanks will go 308 games before being shut out again. » May 29, 1932: The Red Sox split a pair with the visiting A's, winning 6–4 before losing 3–0. It is the Sox last Sunday game at Braves Field. With the lifting of the ban against playing Sunday ball at Fenway (because of a nearby church), the Sox will play a Sunday game there July 3. » May 13, 1942: Pitcher Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves slams three successive home runs to beat the Chicago Cubs, 6–5, at Braves Field, the only ML pitcher ever to accomplish this. His last, in the 8th, breaks a 4–4 tie. Hi Bithorn takes the loss. Bill Nicholson returns the compliment, clouting a 2-run homer off Tobin in the 6th inning, » April 27, 1944: Boston knuckleballer Jim Tobin hits a HR and no-hits the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 before a mid-week crowd of 1,984 at Braves Field. Tobin walks Paul Waner to lead off the game, then retires 26 consecutive batters before again walking Waner with 2 outs in the 9th inning. » May 11, 1946: The New York Giants top the Boston Braves 5–1 in the first night game at Braves Field. The game draws 35,945 for the Braves, who will draw 468,083 fans for 24 night games this season. All told, the 4th place Braves will pull in 969,673, nearly double the previous high of 517,803 set in 1933. » April 15, 1952: In the last home opener in Braves Field in Boston, 4,694 fans watch Warren Spahn lose 3-2 to Brooklyn's Preacher Roe. » September 15, 1952: The Braves play their last game in Boston's Braves Field before moving to Milwaukee, losing to Brooklyn's Joe Black 8-2. The Dodgers clinch a tie for the pennant. The crowd of 8,822 is the Braves' 2nd largest of the season. » April 13, 1954: In Boston, Braves Field is renamed BU Field by its new owners, Boston University. » November 11, 1995: Gaffney Street, near the former site of Braves Field in Boston, is renamed Harry Agganis Way, after the former Boston University and Red Sox star who died during the 1955 season.