Port Arthur Tarpons

The Port Arthur Tarpons, based in Port Arthur, Texas, were one of the Evangeline League's out-of-state franchises, representing the industrial port city on Sabine Lake near the Texas Gulf Coast. The tarpon is a large, hard-fighting game fish found in Gulf of Mexico waters, giving the name a natural fit for a coastal Texas town.

The Tarpons were competitive in their three-season run, reaching the playoff semifinals in 1941 before falling to the Alexandria Aces four games to one. The 1942 season ended on May 30 when the league folded for the war. Port Arthur returned to the Evangeline League briefly in 1954 as the Sea Hawks before moving to the Big State League the following year.

The Evangeline League was a Class D minor league (Class C from 1949) that operated primarily in southern and central Louisiana from 1934 through 1957, with a wartime pause from 1943 through 1945. Named for the Acadian folk heroine of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1847 epic poem, the league was nicknamed the "Pepper Sauce League" or the "Tabasco Circuit" by fans and sportswriters, a nod to the Cajun country setting and the volatile brand of baseball played there.