Remembering The Evangeline League: Jack Kraus

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 Don McShane

Today, Jack Kraus

Kraus, a left-handed pitcher, spent one season in the Evangeline League, before playing for parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball.

1937, Kraus pitched for the Opelousas Indians, going 12-14 with a 4.05 ERA, while leading the league with 193 strikeouts.

At the age of 25, in 1943, Kraus made it into Major League Baseball, going 9-15 with a 3.15 ERA. for the Philadelphia Phillies, before serving in World War II in 1944.

In 1945 Kraus was back playing baseball, going 4-9 with a 5.40 ERA. for the Phillies, prior to spending 1946, the final year of his career, with the New York Giants, where he went 2-1 with a 6.12 ERA.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Kraus compiled an overall record of 13-24 with a 3.81 ERA. in parts of three MLB seasons.

In 11 minor league seasons, Kraus won 131 games, including a stretch of six-consecutive years when he accumulated a winning record.

Kraus passed away in San Antonio in 1976.