Try it yourself: Enter the Boston Atlas Centered on Braves Field or Centered on Fenway Park
My father-in-law, Joe Edelstein was telling me how he used to go to Boston Braves baseball games. He's 92 now, and I asked him, "who the heck are the Boston Braves, and where did they play?" He said the stadium was right near BU, and that he went there all the time to see Warren Spahn pitch. "Really, a major league stadium next to BU?" Sure, he said, and that made me do some research using the Boston Atlas. Here's what I found:
Many great old photos from the Braves days: http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?55575-Classic-Boston-Braves-Phot...
I found this photo of a football game at BU. You can see how they cut into the old stands to make the football field fit. Not long after, I believe they tore down the stadium and build Nickerson Field as we know it today. Later, BU added the three tall dorms that are there now.
Demolition of left field stands in 1955 (BPL Photo)
Crowd leaving after a game in 1937 (BPL Photo)
Aerial photo from 1933 (BPL Photo
Another aerial photo from 1933 from the Boston Public Library. Notice a few things: 1) There are fans sitting on the field! As I understand it, the fences were so far back that home runs were not possible. The field was designed for the inside the park home run, rather than the over-the-wall home run. Later, they moved outfield wall closer to allow more home runs. 2) you can see street cars just behind the ticketing building (which still stands and is BU's Campus Police). These street cars would divert from Commonwealth Avenue on game days. How's that for convenience?
1930's photo. You can see the old Armory in the background. That was torn down to make way for the Aganis Arena.
Largest ball grounds in the world, according to this postcard.
This postcard, from 1950, shows the added outfield wall just in front of the light towers. Just five years later, most of the stadium was torn down, but one part of the right field stands was used for BU's current Nickerson Field.