Remembering The Evangeline League: 1942

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”.

Yesterday, we took a look back at the 1941 season.

Today, the 1942 season:

The Evangeline League had a few changes in 1942, as the league shrunk from eight franchises to six.

Opelousas and Rayne were gone in 1942, and Natchez, now an affiliate of the New York Giants, changed their name from the Pilgrims to the Giants.

The biggest thing though, is that the league ceased operations in 1942, due to World War II, and didn't resume play until 1946.

The entire league disbanded on May 29 of that year, with two franchises, Lafayette and New Iberia, disbanding a week prior.

No champion was crowned in 1942, but at the time the league ceased operations, the Natchez Giants had the most wins (29), followed by the Alexandria Aces (22), the Port Arthur Tarpons (18), the Lake Charles Skippers (16), the Lafayette White Sox (15), and the New Iberia Cardinals (9).

Gene Hodge of Lake Charles led the league in hitting, at a .377, while also banging out a league-high 61 runs.

Port Arthur's Clary Hack finished the abbreviated schedule as the top home run hitter in the league, with 3.

Paul Moore of Lake Charles was the league-leader in runs batted in (25).

Cy Carbon of Natchez was the top pitcher in the league in 1942, going a perfect 9-0, while leading the league in strikeouts (65).

1942 was the final year for league president A. Wilmont Dalferes.