Jim Bradshaw: When the police had to escort the ump out of town

Back in prehistoric days when nobody had a TV set or air conditioning, there were few things better to do as the weather turned warm than to seek out entertainment and a cooling breeze in the grandstands of the hometown baseball team.
In south Louisiana that meant the game could quickly turn hotter than the weather.
The Evangeline Baseball League was organized in 1934 and fielded teams until 1957, over the years earning, even reveling in, its nickname — the Hot Pepper League.
The season usually ran from mid-April through the Labor Day weekend, and in most games fans were just as likely to see a brawl as a double play.
t was a Class D league, the most minor of the minor leagues, so the baseball was not the best. But the games were always entertaining and always lively — especially in the early days when only one umpire (making the magnificent sum of $2.50 per game) had to call balls and strikes, as well as outs on the bases, while keeping tabs on the outfield.
League historian Paul Leslie pointed out several years ago, “The use of a single official produced serious problems: On close plays in the outfield, the distracted official lost sight of the base runners who often took shortcuts across the diamond to either third base or home plate.”
I can attest to that.
I remember attending a game in Lake Charles as a boy, and people in the stands yelling, “Cut across, Shorty! Cut across!” on such a play.
I don’t remember who Shorty was.
My most vivid memory of those games is of the hot dogs served at Legion Field. I’ve been trying to replicate them for years.
They were the best I’ve ever eaten.
The league suspended operations for three seasons during World War II, but in 1945 “local baseball leaders” from across south Louisiana decided to reorganize it “to provide the returning veterans with their favorite national pastime,” according to a news account.
Baseball buffs from Eunice, Rayne, Opelousas, Ville Platte, New Iberia, Jeanerette, Lafayette, Alexandria and Lake Charles were among those who met at the Pecan Grove in Erath, to see who could pony up the fees demanded by the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs.
Teams proposed for 1946 included the Abbeville Athletics, Alexandria Aces, New Iberia Cardinals, Houma Indians, Thibodaux Giants, Hammond Berries, Baton Rouge Red Sticks, Port Arthur Tarpons, and Natchez Giants.
It appears that the smaller towns couldn’t come up with the needed cash.
Still, William Keefe, sports editor for the Times-Picayune in 1946, predicted a good season with lots of fans welcoming the return of hometown baseball.
Better highways would mean “more fans following their teams around for the night games,” he said. “Most of the parks are well-equipped with lighting systems and can get ready without undue expense.”
Loyal fans did follow their teams, and sometimes helped the league reestablish its “hot pepper” reputation.
A 1946 game between Alexandria and Port Arthur illustrates the point.
The game was tied 14-14 in the bottom of the 11th inning when an Ace player tried to stretch a single into a double and was called out by umpire Carmen Conte.
“The Alexandria bench emptied in protest,” Leslie reports. “Manager Harry Strohm and a number of his players charged out of the dugout and surrounded the official. ‘Everybody was yelling at the top of their voice,’ Conte recalled.”
When a couple of players bumped the ump, he demanded, “Who’s the manager here?”
Strohm replied, “It don’t make no difference who is, you punk. ... We’re all managers.” So Conte ejected the entire group from the game — six players and the manager.”
That’s when trouble really started.
The ejections left Alexandria without the nine men needed to continue the game.
Alexandria had to forfeit, the fans joined the melee, and the ump needed a police escort to get safely out of town.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.