Baton Rouge has always been a baseball town. The game was played by occupying Union troops during the Civil War, continued during the Reconstruction Period, and marched forward with the Louisiana State University Tigers in the 1890s. LSU would become one of the winningest teams in the history of the College World Series. Baton Rouge has hosted Southern University's Jaguars and a variety of minor leagues, including the famous Evangeline League, as well as the powerhouse Esso team. An epidemic, floods, the Great Depression, and decades of racial tension have all impacted baseball in this city, but the game has endured.
Authors Michael and Janice Bielawa present the first concise illustrated history of baseball in Baton Rouge. Michael Bielawa is a member of SABR and has written extensively about baseball; his wife Janice is a researcher and fine artist.