I know the big stories of this World Series are the Yankees returning, finally, to face the defending champions; and Cliff Lee vs. CC Sabathia is a nice little sidebar. But the historian in me is most attracted to the rematch of a long-ago World Series that I've read so much about. And Joe Capozzi's got a neat little spin on that story:

Imagine if Cole Hamels or Cliff Lee couldn't pitch for Philadelphia in the World Series this week because they were summoned for military service.That's what happened to Curt Simmons nearly 60 years ago, the last time the Phillies played the New York Yankees in the post-season.

He still thinks about whether Philadelphia could have beaten New York in 1950 if he had been able to take the mound.

"Yeah, I've wondered," Simmons, 80, said Monday from his home in Ambler, Pa. "I'm sure the Phillies would have liked to have had me."

--snip--

In Game 1, the Phillies turned to reliever Jim Konstanty, who won the NL Most Valuable Player award for winning 16 games and saving 22. He went eight innings in a 1-0 loss. Roberts pitched 10 innings in Game 2, losing 2-1. The Yankees won 3-2 in Game 3 and won the finale 5-2.

San Diego Padres announcer Jerry Coleman, who played second base for the Yankees in that Series, said the presence of Simmons to complement Roberts might have been critical.

"It might have gone seven games, not four," Coleman said.

I like to bring this up whenever I can. Everybody knows that a lot of players missed a lot of seasons during World War II, but unless someone's talking about Ted Williams, you rarely hear about the Korean War. Granted, not many players actually had to fight in Korea; Williams and Jerry Coleman are the only two I can name. But a lot of players did serve in the military during the Korean War. Simmons missed the entire 1951 season. Whitey Ford missed all of 1951 and '52. Willie Mays missed most of 1952 and all of 1953, and might otherwise have broken Babe Ruth's record before Hank Aaron did.

That said, it's not at all clear that Simmons would have made a difference in the 1950 World Series. The Phillies scored five runs in the four games! In 1,135 career at-bats, Curt Simmons hit exactly one home run and probably wouldn't have sparked the Phillies' offense when he did pitch.

As good as Simmons was -- and he was the Phillies' second-best starter that season, after Robin Roberts -- the Phillies pitched just fine against the Yankees, thanks largely to Konstanty and Roberts. The problem was that they didn't hit.