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”.

In our last segment, we remembered William Adams

Today, Tony York

York, a right-handed hitting infielder, managed two years in the Evangeline League, after spending one season in Major League Baseball.

A native of Irene, Texas, York was the head man in the dugout for the Crowley Millers from 1953-1954, leading the Millers to a league-best 84 wins in 1953.

As a player in the minor leagues, York totaled 2,563 hits, including 476 doubles, 158 home runs, and 113 stolen bases, to go with his .269 average.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound York had a short stint in Major League Baseball, managing 10 hits, and 7 RBI's, in 85 at-bats with the Chicago Cubs in 1944.

In his seven seasons of managing, York finished with a record of 491-458.

York passed away in 1970 in Texas.

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