That memorable first paragraph from a newspaper story about Don Larsen's 1956 World Series perfect game referred to Larsen's troubled past, but also spoke to the unlikelihood of Larsen's gem - how the big World Series moments don't always come from the big stars.

After all the analysis and matchup dissections of this Yankees-Phillies World Series, after you read all the stories about A-Rod and Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, think back to last year's Series.

Remember how the Game 3-winning hit traveled about 30 feet from the bat of Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, the only walk-off infield single in World Series history.

Remember who hit a big home run for the Phillies in Game 4 - pitcher Joe Blanton.

The Phillies' manager will tell you, "That's baseball." It's also the World Series, historically. Mets fans know that a backup infielder named Al Weis, who had hit seven home runs in a 10-year major-league career, tied the final game of the 1969 World Series with a seventh-inning homer.

Who can do it for the Phillies this time? Since there will be a designated hitter at Yankee Stadium, Ben Francisco has a chance to make an impact on the Series with his bat or glove. Would it surprise anybody if Pedro Martinez pitches 10 shutout innings? Or maybe Ruiz finds a way to top his October self. For the Yankees, who might step past Jeter, A-Rod, and Mark Teixeira? The Yanks have such a potent lineup there aren't too many supporting players. Maybe Robinson Cano will hit one 500 feet. Johnny Damon is old enough - he'd be a surprise if he took over the Series.

Sometimes good players become stars in surprising ways. Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski was known for his great glove work, but almost 50 years later, that glove is overshadowed by his walk-off home run in the 1960 World Series. It remains the only homer to end the seventh game of a Series.

Pitching stars still determine World Series outcomes more than often than not. Cliff Lee vs. CC Sabathia is still the story line above all others for Game 1, and the Phillies may yet join the list of teams extolling the virtues of Mariano Rivera as the best closer of his or any generation.

Since they take more than one play, the great pitching performances are more likely to come from stars. Dominating strikeout performances came from the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax in 1963 and the Cardinals' Bob Gibson in 1968. Mets fans remember Weis from '69 but realize they wouldn't be known as the Miracle Mets without Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.

The greats still have their moments, too. Scroll back through World Series history: Babe Ruth's called shot in 1932. That all-time Willie Mays catch from the bat of Cleveland's Vic Wertz in 1954. Boston's Carlton Fisk, waving his home run fair in 1978. The Hall of Famers are well-represented.

But there are just as many unpredictably big moments. Kirk Gibson's home run wasn't for the ages merely because Gibson was late in a fine career. It went down in history because the Dodger slugger could barely walk in 1988 when he pinch-hit against Oakland's Dennis Eckersley, one of the all-time great closers. Gibson took him deep.

And Bill Buckner probably would appreciate you remembering that he had a far greater career than the Mets' Mookie Wilson. But that became moot when Mookie's ground ball passed through the Red Sox's first baseman's legs in 1986. Another reminder that World Series history isn't built on resumes.