Remembering The Evangeline League: Merle Coleman

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 Tony York

Today, Merle Coleman

Coleman, a right-handed pitcher, managed two years in the Evangeline League, guiding the Natchez Giants in 1946, before serving as skipper for the Abbeville Athletics in 1947, while also playing 11 minor league seasons.

After serving a one-year managerial stint in the East Texas League in 1940 prior to his duties in the Evangeline League, Coleman led Natchez to an overall record of 87-46 in 1946, before his 1947 Abbeville squad finished 53-78.

As a player in the minor leagues, including three seasons as a player/manager, Coleman went 119-109 with a 3.55 ERA.

As a manger, Coleman's most success came with his 1946 Natchez team, who won 87 games, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs.