Art Scene: Cy Young Monument
The statue commemorates the pitcher and how he led Boston to victory in the first World Series.
In the years before Fenway Park became the home of Boston baseball, the Red Sox (then named the Americans and unofficially nicknamed the Pilgrims by many) indulged in America’s pastime at the Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The Grounds was Boston’s first ballpark, situated between Huntington and Columbus avenues. It was here that Cy Young, one of the most notable pitchers of all time, helped the Red Sox claim victory in the first World Series in October 1903.
Today, the space where the Huntington Avenue Grounds once stood is home to Northeastern’s Boston campus. However, the university has a monument to commemorate the World Series played there.
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The Cy Young Monument was created by Robert Shure, the same sculptor who did The Shillman Cat, and was made possible by the Yawkey Foundation. It’s located off World Series Way, near the location of the Huntington Avenue Grounds’ pitcher’s mound where Young had pitched, Shure said.
“They wanted to commemorate where he won the World Series for the Boston team,” Shure said. “So they asked me to come up with a design. I could have done him just standing there doing nothing, but given his history, I wanted to compose him as strong, muscular and concentrating right before pitching at home plate. It was like a frozen moment in time.”
To fully capture Young, Shure conducted extensive research, including studying Young’s stance and borrowing an old woolen uniform from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, to accurately portray the texture in the bronze in which the sculpture is cast.
The statue was unveiled in September 1993. Shure said there was a dedication at Fenway Park, where the statue was paraded around the field on a tractor, followed by a ceremony at Northeastern. The ceremonies were attended by Red Sox players, Cy Young Award winners, and a woman who used to play catch with Young when she was a girl.
“They flew her in for the dedication at Northeastern,” Shure said. “When they pulled the unveiling sheet off, this lady started crying. I figured, ‘oh, geez, what’d I do wrong? Maybe he was a lefty, not a righty.’ I finally questioned her, and she said that she was moved, because the way he was holding the baseball was exactly the way he had taught her to hold the baseball. That was a special moment to me. A lot of my work involves history (and) that was one of my favorite special projects.”