Remembering The Evangeline League: 1934

The Evangeline League was a minor league baseball league that ran in southern and central Louisiana from 1934-1957.

The league, which had it's name taken from Evangeline, the epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, began as a 6-team class D league in 1934, and then expanded to 8 teams the next season, before shutting down for two seasons following the 1943 season due to World War II.

After resuming play in 1946, the Evangeline League remained a class D league, before being promoted to the class C level in 1949.

The league remained in operation until 1957, when two of the six remaining teams dropped out, suspending play that season with no champion being named.

The Evangeline League, which featured a betting scandal back in 1946, featured teams in cities such as Lafayette, Abbeville, Crowley, Opelousas, Rayne, Jeanerette, and Lake Charles.

Despite the stability of the league, the only franchise they lasted all 21 seasons was the Alexandria Aces, while New Iberia had a franchise every season, with the exception of the final one.

Because of the close proximity of the franchises, a number of heated rivalries developed, with crowds that would certainly quality as raucous, getting into it with umpires, players, managers, and one another.

It was an immensely popular league for over two decades, with some franchises actually outdrawing some Major League Baseball franchises, in terms of attendance.

All summer long we'll be going back in time and look back at the Evangeline League, which was commonly referred to as the "Pepper Sauce League", "Hot Sauce League", or "Tabasco Circuit".

Today, the 1934 season:

The Evangeline League began play in 1934, with six teams, including the Lafayette White Sox, Opelousas Indians, Lake Charles/Jeanerette Blues, Rayne Red Sox, New Iberia Cardinals, and Alexandria Aces.

Lake Charles moved to Jeanerette May 29, after the Lake Charles grandstand was destroyed by fire.

Lafayette, an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns, who was managed by Lee Schulte, won the initial title, defeating Opelousas, four-games-to-three, in the championship series.

The two teams tied for the most regular season wins that year, with 62, followed by Lake Charles/Jeanerette (53), Rayne and New Iberia (50), and Alexandria (47).

Offensively, Clinton Jones of Opelousas was the first batting champion, hitting a .350, while also compiling a league-high 151 hits.

Jones also scored 79 runs, which tied Schulte for the most that season, while Rayne's Harry Nolan led the way with 25 home runs and 101 runs driven in.

Pitching-wise, Rayne's Roderick "Hookey" Irwin won 21 games, while Alexandria's Bryan Flanagan struck out 216 batters.

Lafayette had four players accumulate over 100 hits that season, including Schulte (116), Mark Mauldin (108), Stanley Sonnier (105), and Milton Delmas (102).

The White Sox also had an outstanding pitching staff, headlined by Paul LeBlanc, who won 20 games, and William Dowey won 17.

Opelousas, who had three managers, including Patsy Flaherty, Clayton Guilbeau, and Milton Delmas, had a versatile offensive team, with six hitters compiling 100 or more hits, including Jones (151), Roy Weatherly (139), Wilbur Roussarie (113), Ike Livingston (105), Delmas (102), Matt Dean (101), and Marion Jones (100).

Rayne was a team that could hit the long ball, featuring four players with double-digit homers, including Nolan (25), Clyde Andrus (12), William Taylor (12), and Mike Kelly (11).

New Iberia didn't have much power, with nobody with more than five homers in 1934, but they did have some guys that could hit the ball, including Roy Smith (117), and player-manager Sam Camalo (110), who both compiled over 100 hits.