OCR Text |
Show Connie Mack Apt to Land In 8th Spot By GAYLE TALBOT LAKE CHARLES. La, March 22 iJPi Rocking placidly on th porch I of an ancient hotel here to that kindly old gentleman of baseball, ' Corml Mack, dreaming his dreams of other years, before mllUonalru and wealthy merchant took over th gam ha love and left him holding th sack. His eye a keen and blu a erer under their snowy brows, he tells you he Is building up another team, one that In time may recapture the glory of th old Philadelphia Athletics. Ath-letics. But It seems that he talks with Just a shad lees assurance than a year ago. I think Connie realises ' now that ha ha wracked one too many team, and that he'U never live to wave hi famous scon-card scon-card In another world series. Prospect Net Bright , Up In his seventies, Connie finds himself without a ball club, and with no real proa pec La of building another pennant contender. He ha built up no farm ay stem Ilk most of his rivals possess, and he. no longer can roach down and buy up a batch of groat player like he once did. Every avenue ha been closed to him, and I gusss he knowa it ' . - Not, mind you, that he will admit It for a minute. Connie still Insists that th woods are full of fin young players, only waiting to be found. In fact, he saya there are more of them than ever. But he's bound to be aware by this time that tha big chains the Yankee, tha Card, th Giants and th other hav the promising young stars of tha country coun-try Indexed right down to their choice of movie stars. Stampeded by Martisj Connie bought that last great team he had, the on "Pepper" Martin Mar-tin of the Cardinals stampeded In the 19S1 world sorlee. He paid a big price for such players as Bob Grove, Rub Walberg, Bob Earn-shaw, Earn-shaw, Max Bishop, Jimmy Dykes, Mickey Cochrane and the others. Jimmy Foxx was about the only member of that team who was discovered dis-covered by Mr. Mack. When he waa through with them, Connie sold them at even a greater price, the Red Sox being hia best customers. Ho won three championships cham-pionships with them and made money on th resale. The bulk of that money muat still be In the Athletics treasury, so It's not as though Connie couldn't afford to buy himself another team. He's far from an object of charity. He simply sim-ply can't buy that sort of players any more. They're all spoken for already by on of his more fore-sighted fore-sighted rivals. Good Outfield Rocking on th same veranda with Connie, and full of good, bracing brac-ing food, are a couple score of ths young msa hs is working with. Among them ere perhaps a half dosen big league ball players. Bob Johnson, Wally Moses and Lou Finney, Fin-ney, for lnstanos, form aa outfield trio that several American league teams would lore to have, especially Detroit But outside of - that the team strictly la eighth place. There's aa hope for it's pitching, outslds of Lynn Nslson and Oeorge Caster. The catching is extremely ; skstchy. If at ail, and the infield lost It's guiding light when BUI Werber waa sold to Cincinnati last week. Connie's only Important purchase pur-chase during tha winter waa Bill Lillard, a shortstop for whom he helled out a reported (30,000 to San Francisco. Hs got all but $3000 of that back on the Werber aale. |