The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-04-07

war cast N IofepUuink SlAuUW over the major leagues thls year
 when 1t was the cause of tho abe senee of Hank dreenberg and Bob Teller, tho former being drafted and the latter enlisting, Both of these boys were Amerisan Leaguers and there loss might be chased as catastrophe to their respective
 teams.
 This ieyellng off process is fur-
 ther reflected by the fact that players in the American League on
 the whole are younger than those of the National. Proof of this came In
 the draft, which gobbled up Just about twice as many American League players as National. The baseball magnate, of course. has It's own added personal beef, be- cause those fans, who used to come out to see Bob Teller pitch once every four days, will remain at home and listen to radio broadcasts for a few cents worth of electricity.
 Evidently anticipating the loss of rnanpower, the big leagues reduced their reserves under last years toe tal. They have eos on the reserve lists of both leagues, which Is eigh- teen fewer than the total Q year ago, The National League has brought up l20 Of tho PA new faces under big league contract this year, again refleeting the of- feet of military service, for the American Leagues trio busiest chain store operators In Boston and New York have been unable to bring up youngsters In the usual quantity, Here again veteran, known quan- tity, will be preferred to the rookie who may have been brought up q year too soon.
 NEW YORK TANKS, Seeking their second consecutive pennant and their sixth in seven years, tho YankS of i042 present 6 formidable front, And yet not an invuinerable one. As we all know, pitching is tremendously vital. Some experts call it Sixty.fve percent of the game, with Connie Mack eYaluating it even higher. And Yankee pitching must be rated afl unknown quantity. once again the BomberS are depend- lng on those veterans of many base. ball wars, Red RuffinR and Lefty Gomez. But with Gomez is his aS- slstant, John Murphy, tho Minute Man. Behind Red and Johnny VIC find Marius Russo, who should Dc ono of the most outstanding Southpaws of the majors; Tiny Bon. ham, who showed with the Dodgers in the World Series in iD4i; spud who was 50 effective the second half of last season, Phil Slzzuto at short. with Frankie Cro- setti again his relief and Red Rolfe at third, with Gerry Priddy his ufl' derstudy, give the Bombers rather q healthy complexion in the infield. Tn the outfieid Joe Di Maggie, the Leagues most valuable player of i04i, who set ail amazing record by hitting in 90 consecutive contests. once again patrols center, with Charley Keller in left. Yankee catching is once again headed by Bill Dlckey, the best receiver In the game, who this year will try to work in ct least 100 games for the four teenth straight season. With thir' teen consecutive years of such dur. able service to his credit, he already holds the major league record.
 You will note that the New York Clubs losses to the service have not been very serious as yet. You will find that new material compensateS for these losses - in fact, may even outdo those who have gone. The threat to Joe McCarthy's happiness are located in two directions = first the wear and tear on his battery veterans; second, additional losses to the Army and Navy. with stress on H9nr!ch.
 Here you have my brief analysis Of the New York Yankees this. season. next will be an analysis of the Boston Red Sox.