Remembering The Evangeline League: Bill Dossey

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 Bob Riesener.

Today, Bill Dossey

Dossey was a right-handed hitting catcher, who played six seasons in the Evangeline League, as both a player and a manager.

As a player, Dossey was a member of the Abbeville Athletics in 1952, the Lake Charles Lakers in 1953, the Texas City Pilots in 1954, the Baton Rouge Red Sticks in 1955, and the Thibodaux Senators in 1956 and 1957.

Dossey also managed the Baton Rouge and Thibodaux franchises.

1954 was a memorable season for Dossey, when he hit a league-record .410, to go along with 28 homers, 36 doubles, and 115 runs batted in.

Only two players in Evangeline League history ever hit a .400, and Dossey's .410 batting average in 1954 would never be surpassed.

After his playing career ended following the 1957 season Dossey stayed in the game of baseball, working as a part-time scout for the Montreal Expos from 1969-1970.