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 remembered George David "Red" Munger

Today, George Gick

Gick, a right-handed pitcher, spent one season in the Evangeline League, before going on to have a very brief stint in Major League Baseball.

In 1937, his lone season in the Evangeline League, with the Rayne Rice Birds, Gick led the league with a 2.41 ERA., while posting an overall record of 15-10.

Later that year, at the age of 21, Gick appeared in one game for the Chicago White Sox, tossing two perfect innings.

A native of Pine, Indiana, Gick made it back to the big leagues in 1938 with the White Sox, throwing another perfect inning.

That would be his last appearance in MLB, as Gick finished with a career line of three innings pitched, with no hits, walks, or runs allowed, while striking out two batters.

In two minor league seasons, Gick was 20-21 with a 3.58 ERA.

Gick passed away in 2008 in Indiana.

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