By Magdalena Hernandez

Boston's Ballparks and Arenas, by Alan E. Foulds (Northeastern University Press, Boston; published by the University Press of New England, Hanover, New Hampshire; 2005; 221 pages; $24.95)

All roads lead to Northeastern. Or maybe it just sometimes seems that way in Boston. Though several area schools trump NU in age, the university is tightly woven into the fabric of the city's history. In fact, Boston's professional sports history had its start in our own backyard. Or, to be more exact, underneath our parking garage.

Northeastern's campus was once home to no fewer than three of Boston's major playing fields: the South End Grounds (aforementioned cradle, in 1871, of Beantown's pro sports), the Huntington Avenue Grounds, and the Boston Arena (better known to current Huskies as Matthews Arena).

The ties between gown and town extend to the present, says Alan E. Foulds in his new book, Boston's Ballparks and Arenas. As he points out, "These venues were the birthplaces of nine major-league teams, five of which still exist today."

Foulds, a magazine editor with an interest in sports and New England history, has hit upon a novel way to explore the country's greatest sports town. His encyclopedic book takes readers on a site-by-site tour of the city's ballparks and arenas, both past and present.

Reviewing Boston's athletic legacy through the prism of its landmark venues grants a new perspective. Suddenly, a site's importance extends beyond the relatively fleeting fortunes of the team it housed. And its own characteristics—proximity to an interstate highway, say, or seating capacity—help us interpret its historical and cultural significance.

The book's first section catalogs the "nine wonders" of Boston sports: the South End Grounds, the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Fenway Park, Braves Field, Boston Arena, Boston Garden, the FleetCenter, Foxborough Stadium, and Gillette Stadium.

As the nation's oldest existing professional baseball pitch, Fenway Park casts the longest shadow. The author skillfully discusses the Red Sox' 1912 migration from the Huntington Avenue Grounds as well as memorable moments from recent history, such as the 1986 World Series loss and the heart-wrenching 1999 Ted Williams tribute (Bosox faithful may be disappointed to learn the book went to press before the gloom-erasing 2004 World Series win).

Younger readers will discover Fenway was once home to Boston's football and soccer franchises. Soccer great Pelé even played there in 1968, when the Boston Beacons took on the Santos Club of Brazil.

Foulds's discussions of the South End Grounds, the Huntington Avenue Grounds (where the first World Series was played, in 1903), and Braves Field are equally well sketched, providing a primer on baseball's infancy.

Though some of the book's stories will be familiar to avid sports fans, Foulds does an admirable job of collecting infamous idiosyncrasies and historic firsts. The origins of Fenway's Green Monster and the "Williamsburg" zone are explained, for instance. Hockey enthusiasts will find out when the Zamboni's ice-smoothing technology made its NHL debut—in 1954, at the Boston Garden.

Unfamiliar ghosts materialize in section two, which tells the story of six forgotten playing fields: the Dartmouth Street Grounds, the Congress Street Grounds, the Worcester County Agricultural Fairgrounds, Sam Mark's Stadium, Balmoral Park, and Lincoln Park.

Foulds's chapters on Lincoln Park and the Worcester County Agricultural Fairgrounds are particular standouts. The former field, which opened around 1930 in Roxbury, served for six years as a backdrop for black baseball teams, in an era when black players were excluded from the major leagues. Foulds explores the history of black baseball through such sources as the Boston Chronicle, a black newspaper from those years. (It turns out another close Northeastern neighbor, Carter Playground, also hosted games between black teams.)

The Worcester County Agricultural Fairgrounds was a pockmarked stretch of land used for county fairs. It even served as a training and recruiting camp for Union soldiers during the Civil War. But from 1879 to 1898, it was baseball country.

A National League team named the Worcesters called the unlikely field home for three seasons, starting in 1880. Unfortunately, Foulds tells us, the Worcesters' second season "was plagued by miscues and bad performance," some the stuff of amateurs. During one game, shortstop Arthur Irwin broke his leg rounding first, and the team had no replacement on the bench. So "Flip Flaherty, owner of a local sporting-goods store, was called out of the stands. He donned a uniform and finished the game."

Despite that fan's can-do attitude, the game ended in a tie. One season later, after an 18-66 losing record and poor gate receipts, the Worcesters resigned from the National League.

Though time's progress has erased nearly every trace of the Worcester fairgrounds, it holds a permanent place in sports history. The site boasted pro baseball's first perfect game, pitched by the Worcesters' J. Lee Richmond against Cleveland on June 12, 1880.

In the book's brief final section, Foulds gives an overview of Boston playing fields that, though they hosted professional games, never quite made it into the big leagues—either intentionally or by misfortune. Such almost-rans run the gamut from Harvard Stadium to the Tsongas Arena.

As in any good history, Boston's Ballparks and Arenas offers a wealth of information. Foulds is adept at mining sources for sports trivia, which he scatters generously throughout the book. He's also selected a variety of interesting photographs and drawings to illustrate his narrative. There's a shot of Boston Garden going up, for example. And another poignant one of it coming down.

He even includes brief accounts of how some sports shrines have been desecrated by commencements, circuses, and concerts (perhaps just in time to welcome the Rolling Stones to Fenway).

In all, Foulds has written a breezy, engaging overview—a fine book for history buffs, be they fascinated by Boston or by sports. And proud Huskies will undoubtedly learn about connections to the past they didn't know they had.

Magdalena Hernandez, MBA'02, is a senior editor.

Golf Links: Chay Burgess, Francis Ouimet, and the Bringing of Golf to America, by Charles D. Burgess; Rounder Books; 2005

Few pastimes garner more enthusiasts than golf. In this tribute to the game’s evolution, Charles D. Burgess, Ed’69, MEd’74, illuminates its early days by detailing his great-grandfather Chay Burgess’s pivotal role.

A boy wonder at golf and soccer in his native Scotland during the late 1800s, Chay found success as a golf teacher after emigrating to the United States. He ultimately trained three U.S. champs, including Francis Ouimet, who won the 1913 U.S. Open in dramatic fashion.

Charles Burgess, a Boston public school teacher and administrator, strikes a delicate balance here between ancestral homage and sports history.

Environment, Inc.: From Grassroots to Beltway, by Christopher J. Bosso; University Press of Kansas; 2005

This country’s environmental advocacy groups strive to preserve the natural world. Yet as they mature and gain power, is it possible they’ve gone from fighting the Man to walking in his oxfords?

Associate political science professor Christopher J. Bosso chronicles the evolution of more than thirty environmental advocacy groups—from fringe movements to mainstream political forces. He also lays out the challenges activist groups face in a setting of PACs and pork-barrel politics.

Not just for policy wonks, this volume offers invaluable insights on the impact of environmental organizations.