Evangeline Baseball League

The Evangeline League began in 1934 as a six–team Class D level minor league with teams based in Louisiana, United States, later adding Mississippi and Texas based franchises. In 1935, the league was expanded to eight teams and ceased operations in 1942, with six teams, during World War II. It resumed activities in 1946, getting promoted to Class C in 1949, and lasted through 1957. The Alexandria Aces were the only team that played in all 21 regular seasons.[1]

Evangeline League
SportMinor League Baseball
Inaugural season1934
Ceased1957
No. of teams17
CountryUnited States
ClassificationClass C (1949–1957)
Class D ( (1934-1942, 1946–1948)

History

1946 gambling scandal

The Evangeline League was affected by a gambling scandal that surfaced after the 1946 Championship series. After the completion of the playoffs, which were won by the Houma Indians, allegations emerged that Houma Indians and Abbeville Athletics players had conspired with gamblers to achieve desired outcomes of three playoff games. At the October 23, 1946 league meeting, it was alleged that Houma players conspired with gamblers for Huma to lose the fourth game of the first round of the playoffs, lose the first game of the second round and win the fourth game of the second round. After learning of the allegations, Judge W. G. Bramham, President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, summoned the unnamed accused players to attend a hearing on January 10–11, 1947. After interviews and further investigation, five players were put on the ineligible list, meaning they could not play in minor league baseball. Houma players William "Bill" Thomas, Leonard Pecou, Alvin Kaiser and Paul Fugit and Don Vettorel of Abbeville were placed on the ineligible list by Branham for their actions. Later, Thomas and Pecou appealed and were ultimately restored to eligibility by George Trautman, Bramham's successor after two years. On August 22, 1949, both players were reinstated and allowed to immediately to return to the Houma roster. After his reinstatement, Thomas would continue his career to set the minor league career records for total games, victories, losses, hits and runs. Baseball reference shows his career record as 305–264 over 24 seasons and other sources have his minor league win total at 383.[2][3][4][5][6][7] [8][9]

1956–1957 boycotts

The Evangeline League permanently folded following the 1957 season and had never become an integrated league, despite the efforts of major league affiliates (the Chicago Cubs) to assign players to the Lafayette Oilers and integrate team rosters. Lafayette was an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. In 1956, some boycotts of attending games began after the Lafayette Oilers refused to accept the players to their team. Subsequently, Lafayette Parrish, home of the Baton Rouge Rebels, passed legislation making it illegal black players to play in its ballparks. The Evangeline League itself also officially banned non–white players from appearing on their rosters. These blocks forced the major league teams to reassign the payers to other leagues. Due to boycotts, the 1956 playoff finals, featuring Lafayette, were cancelled as a result. Both the Lafayette Oilers and the Baton Rouge Rebels folded before the end of the 1957 season, on June 20 1957.[10][11][12][13][14][15]

List of teams (in alphabetical order)

Etymology

References
  1. "Evangeline League". Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  2. "William Thomas Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  3. "Houma (LA) Indians Bill Thomas, who pitched in all four games that his team won in the final round, is among the five persons, including two of his teammates and his manager, who are put on baseball's ineligible list for allegedly betting on the 1946 Class D Evangeline League playoffs. The 41 year-old right-hander, the all-time minor league winningest pitcher with 383 wins, will be reinstated in 1949". January 25, 1947.
  4. "Evangeline Baseball League". 64 Parishes.
  5. "William Thomas Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  6. "Legendary Minor League records". www.milb.com.
  7. "Remembering The Evangeline League: 1946". SPORTS RADIO ESPN 1420.
  8. BarrouquereCorrespondent, Elizabeth. "Evangeline League: Betting scandal marred baseball circuit's reputation". Houma Today.
  9. "The Evangeline League Scandal of 1946". research.sabr.org.
  10. "Evangeline League - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  11. "A League of Their Own". May 31, 2013.
  12. "Minor League history: Evangeline League". August 21, 2016.
  13. "Lafayette Oilers - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  14. "Baton Rouge Rebels - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  15. BarrouquereCorrespondent, Elizabeth. "Evangeline League archives provide glimpse of past". Houma Today.
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