The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-09-30

New York, September 29.-One of the outstanding features of the world series history has been the fact that almost
 every contestyof this baseball classic has developed one or more so-called heroes -pla yers who have uncovered what has
 been termed a superman type of the
 game under the stress and excitement
 of the struggle. Certain names remain fixed in the memory of the fans in con-
 nection with specific series long after the general result and personnel of the com- peting clubs have faded from recollec- tion.
 The pitching of Christy Mathewson in the series against the Philadelphia Ath- letics In 1904, the heavy hitting of Frank lin Baker against the Giants in the Phil-
 adelphia-New York contests in 1911, when he pounded out two home runs at crit ical periods In the play and drove in five runs during the series, cannonading
 of Hank Gowdy's bat In the Boston Braves victory over the Athletic in the struggle of 1914, when the Braves catcher startled the baseball world with
 his terrific hitting that gave him an average of 545, and an assortment of drives which consisted of one home run, one three bagger, three two-base hits and five singles in Il times at bat all lHdQo WOrlu SerleS history.
 The same can be said of the field play of Harry Hooper in the famous eight game series between the Boston Ameri- cans and the New York Nationals; the
 work of Third Baseman Rohe of the Chi ago Americans in 190b, when that team
 defeated the Chicago Nationals four games out of six; Eddie Collins remark
 able showing at second base for the
 Athletics in the series of 1910 and 1913,
 and Pitcher George WIltses one-inning
 stand at first base for the Giants in 1913.
 The list might be continued almost in
 definitely if all the stars were to- be
 given their due.
 velopes one or more prayers who rise to
 a degree far in excess Of their normal
 diamond work during the regular pen
 nant play Various reasons have been
 advanced for this marked lifting of their
 game and they have been referred to as
 star money players, series cracks
 and other terms to distinguish them from
 the men whose work in the bis contests
 Is neither more nor less sensational than
 their seasonal play Another peculiar
 feature is that there can be no accurate
 forecasting to which men will rise to
 the occasion in this man:ier Many have
 been expected to play most brilliantly
 only to dsappoint their supporters with an exhibition which hardly deserved the descriptive term of mediocre.
 There is wide field of speculative possibilities among the players of the Chicago Americans an~ the New York Nationals and world series heroes may spring from unexpected positions in the coming contests between these clubs Whether these series stars will rise from the ranks of the veterans or from among the younger menabe CTS of the White Sox and the Giants, only time can tell. In veteran material tested in the fire Of world series strife, the New York Ma tionals have a decided advantage over their rivals from the middle west Whether all of these players will get into the series however, remains to be seen In addition to Manager McGraw, Who has led four teams in the struggles Pitcher Tesreau was x member of the Giants team which figured in champion ship play of 1912 and 1913; Herzog and Fletcher, infielders, participated in the series of 1911 1912 and 1913: Zimmerman was a member of the Chicago Nationals when that club met the Philadelphia Athletics in 1910; Catcher George Gibson was behind the plate for the Pittsburg team when that comb,;iaton played the Detroit Americans in 19J9, and Pitcher Demaree and Outfielder Burns played with the Giants in the series Of 1915 against the Athletics.
 In sharp contrast, the White Sox have but two players who have participateti to any extent in the baseball classic. Eddie Collins, the Chicago second base man. was a member of Connie Mack's famous pennant and world series ma chine few years ago and figured prom isently in the struggles of 1910, 19ll 1913 and 1914 Eddie Murphy was also member of the Athletics for several years and was in the series play.