The Philadelphia Phillies staggered to the National League pennant by winning two of their last ten ball games. Such a percentage will not deprive the New York Yankees of their second consecutive World Championship in the World Series which opens this afternoon in Shibe Park.

Even though Manager Eddle Sawyer will start Jim Konstanty against 21-game winner Vic Raschi, sporting fans who back up their predictions with money still consider it an even chance that the Phillies will win no (0) games.

The Phillies and the White Owls

There is just one factor which weighs in favor of the underdogs. They possess three pitchers of the type which has consistently troubled the Yankees. Bob Miller, Jim Konstanty, and Ken Heintzelman are slow-ballers.

The other factor in which some claim the Phils have the edge is youth. Unfortunately, in a World Series youth is the ability to make mistakes with enthusiasm.

On the other hand, the Yankees have little youth and Ed Lopat is their only slow-baller. All they have is more consistent and far more powerful batters, an infinitely superior double-play combination, a sounder and deeper front-line pitching staff, and the human winner, Joe DiMaggio.

The last named alone might be enough. He has that certain ability to hit 400 in the final month of a close pennant race. Hardly a sports writer will hesitate to call him the best ball player of his generation.

Two unexpected developments yesterday struck a modicum of fear into the wallets of Yankee backers. Casimir Konstanty's 75th appearance of the year will be his first as a starter. While surpassing Giant Ace Adams pre-Mexico record of 70 relief performances, Jim won 16, lost seven, and became the odds-on favorite for the league's Most Valuable Player. But before Sawyer deposited him permanently in the bull-pen, Konstanty was, generously speaking, a bum.

Konstanty may have learned enough this year to pitch a fine complete game. Then, again, he may not. In any case, Vic Raschi has been starting, finishing, and winning games two and a half years. He does not have a reputation for choking in the clutch.

Wherein a General Sees the Light

Another development yesterday originated in Camp Atterbury, Indiana. Major General Daniel B. Strickler shifted his quid and confessed he had realized "that the winning of the National League pennant by the Phillies is a great thing for the people of Pennsylvania."

While Curt Simmons sped to Shibe Park with a special ten-day pass, approved by the Department of Defense, the general continued, "it is gratifying to be able to take this course of action to encourage the ball team during the World Series."

Simmons will pitch batting practice. Sawyer last night rejected Commissioner A. B. Chandler's kindly offer to waive the 25-man limit and let the left-hander participate in the series. Curt now has not pitched in exactly one month.