Remembering The Evangeline League: Red Munger

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 Sid Gautreaux

Today, George David "Red" Munger

Munger, a right-handed pitcher, spent one season in the Evangeline League, before going on to spend ten seasons in Major League Baseball.

In 1937, his lone season in the Evangeline League, with the New Iberia Cardinals, Munger led the league in wins, posting an overall record of 19-11, along with a 3.42 ERA. in.

What made Munger's record even more impressive that year was that New Iberia finished last in the league.

At age 24 in 1943, Munger made it into Major League Baseball, appearing in 32 games, including nine as a starter, with the St. Louis Cardinals, going 9-5 with a 3.95 ERA.

Munger was having an outstanding 1944 campaign, going 11-3 with a 1.34 ERA, when he was drafted into the Army midway through the season, to serve in World War II, missing out on the Cardinals' World Series win.

After being discharged late in the 1946 season, Munger helped the Cardinals win another pennant, and started Game 4 of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, a series St. Louis would win, four-games-to-three.

A native of Houston, Texas, Munger won a career-high 16 games in 1947, before posting two more seasons with double-digit wins.

A three-time National League All-Star, Munger pitched nine years for the Cardinals, going 74-49 with a 3.73 ERA., before spending the last two seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he went 3-7 over 40 games.

In 10 big league seasons, Munger compiled an overall record of 77-56 with a 3.83 ERA.

In 12 minors league seasons, Munger was 152-118 with a 2.69 ERA.

Munger passed away in 1996 in Houston.