The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-02-18
(Reg. U. s. Pat. Off.)
By JACK GUENTHER limited Press Staff COrreSnOndp


 New York, Feb. 18+(UP)-The full towering of what is commonly called complete and utter futility may be noted at SOS p. m. today. At that time, the Philadelphia Ath- letics dpeart for the far reaches of the golden west to prepare for the rigorous battle they may be expect ed to wage for undisputed possess sion of the American league cellar.
 This 1922 departure is unusually sad. In previous years it has been the custom of Connie Mack to voice a few innocent optimisms while he hustled the boys aboard their train and kept an eye cooked on any strageler who might attempt an es- cape. But today MT. Mack will be hard put for the appropriate phrases.
 Nothing Left
 In other years he had at least the skeleton of a team at hand as he shipped west to bask in the Cal ifornia sun. This season he has the skeleton, all right, but minus the tibia and fibia. Al Brancato, Benny Mccoy and Sam Chapman won't be on deck when the limited chugs away. They are all engrossed in various branches of military service
 This is as should be and MT. Mack isn't moaning at the bar. But he must be mildly nostalgia. His 1942 roster sums up the outlook. It is printed in pastel blues and greens, perfect colors with which to describe the available material. Ill 1941 there wasn't too much wrong that a good mound staff couldn't have cured. But 1942-oooow.
 Chapman was 1928 batter, the power hitter of the club, and per- haps the best of MT. Mack's recent discoveries. He has improved every year since he left the University of California campus. This season he will be replaced by Mike Kreevich a fugitive from the White Sox, but Kreevich hit .105 points lower, knocked 25 fewer home runs and batted in 68 less runs.
 So much for the outfeld gap. As for the infield, when MT. Mack locks at it he must want to scrap the rose colored glasses he has worn "A hours day for several years now and replace them with a set of blinkers. McCoy's job probably will go to Crash Davis, an agile fielder but a 2l9 hitter, while the Brancato post is as open as an Ari- zona prairie.
 With Dick Siebert, the clubs heaviest hitter, set at first base and Davis on second, it will be up to Pete Suder and Al Rubeling to ham, dle short and third between them. The rookie infielders don't appear too bright at the moment and Fred Chapman may be called on for heavy duty relief work. There isn't much margin for MT. Mack to work on.
 Frank Hayes, happily, is a first rate catcher but when you mention catching you must mention pitching and I'd rather not. You'll find bet ter pitchers in any china shop than on the As roster. John Knott and Phil Marchildon won B games be- tween them last year and are the mainstays. With few exceptions, the others are flve-and-dime store bric- a-brac.
 Shy on Defense
 Some had bad luck last year and others might have been able to work better had they been treasured that there was capable defense behind them. Russ Christopher and Fred Caliguiri, a couple of rockies who won IT games each with Newark and Wilmington in 1941, may pro- vide a few days of rest to Knott, Marchildon and Les McCrabb-or they may not.
 Generally speaking, the best that can be said of the pitching is that it is no worse than last year and may prove to be a bit better. After taking this hopeful fact into con- sideration I'm ready to release the first of my 1922, miss-fire. mo-