Jim Bradshaw: Evangeline baseball -- the majors were never like this

There are still a few of us of a certain vintage who remember the rough-and-ready days of Evangeline League baseball, where rivalries were so hot that at most games you were more likely to see a big brawl than a double play.
That league was created in the middle 1930s, but well before that semi-pro teams in south Louisiana were just as contentious and newspaper accounts of their games invariably included a line like, “The game was marked by considerable wrangling over the umpire’s decisions.”
That came from the report of game in July 1920 between teams from Eunice and Opelousas that had its fair share of shenanigans, but another game between those clubs later that month raised a particularly holy howl — because of the cars parked in right field.
Eunice won the game 3-1, but the St. Landry Clarion claimed “lucky” Eunice won “despite the fact they were outpitched and outbatted.”
The parked cars were responsible for all three of the Eunice runs, the newspaper claimed, and there was good reason to say that if the account was true.
The cars first came into play in the fourth inning. Eunice had two men on base when first baseman, Denkins (baseball writers seldom reported first names in those days), “drove a hit to right field that should have been an easy out.”
But the Opelousas right fielder, Thibodeaux, “fell over a car bumper in attempting to field the ball.”
The two men on base scored and Denkins reached third while the Opelousas fielder “was trying to reach the ball under the car.”
Then, in the sixth inning, the Eunice third baseman, McKinney, “popped a high fly along the right field line.” This time Thibodeaux “got his hands on the ball but dropped it and it rolled under a car.”
The batter circled the bases for a home run while the beleaguered fielder tried to find the ball.
Opelousas tried to rally late in the game, but fell short. “The damage had been done and the automobiles in right field were responsible,” the newspaper said.
Eunice and Opelousas had good teams that year, but the semi-pro powerhouse in south Louisiana in 1920 was the Arnaudville Tigers, largely because of the pitching of “mighty” Tobe Veltin, who needed no help from an outfield parking lot.
The Tigers beat every team they played, even pummeling Lafayette 8-3, despite the fact that the visitors tried to run in a ringer.
The Lafayette pitcher was “a shroud of mystery,” according to the account of that game.
“No one knew who he was or whence he came.” His name was listed as Broussard on the score card, “but it was whispered that he played incognito.”
“Mighty Tobe” again pitched Arnaudville to the win, and “after the game the mystery of the Lafayette pitcher was solved. … He was the well know Billeaux who formerly pitched in the Louisiana State League for Abbeville.”
That was a professional league that included the Abbeville Sluggers, Alexandria Tigers, Lafayette Hubs, New Iberia Sugar Boys, Oakdale Lumberjacks, and Rayne Rice Birds.
It was apparently a no-no for the semi-pro clubs to use professional players.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.