(BRONX, N.Y.) In the bottom of the first inning, The Yankees had two on
and one out when Alex Rodriguez walked slowly to the plate.
Game over, ALDS over, and the Yankees season over.
In what could be his last meaningful at-bats in a Yankee uniform, the best player in baseball failed to deliver the hit that the Yankee faithful had asked him to deliver for the last three Octobers.
Yes, he did hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 6-3, and give the fans one last thead of hope.
But in the bottom of the ninth, after Bobby Abreu's solo homer made the score 6-4, A-Rod, with one out and nobody on, flied out.
Two MVPs in three years? Not enough.
Though I hate to say it -- because I usually try to avoid criticizing a star player getting what some dopey owner is willing to pay him -- Rodriguez had to, at some point, be the man in the middle of that Yankee lineup in a postseason series.
He wasn't. Not in since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS anyway. And to the Yankee fans, who never forgave (and still don't) Dave Winfield for his awful 1981 WS showing against the Dodgers, it's the thing that would make him a "True Yankee".
Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu, are all making in excess of 10 million a year. Not a ring to be found. So, not "True Yankees" either.
A-Rod is not the only reason the Yankees are going home after the first round for the third straight year.
He's not the only reason that Joe Torre, the team's Hall of Fame manager, will be looking for work in a few days.
He's not even the reason that the Yankees lost Game 4 of the American League Division Series.
You can blame the Cleveland Indians for that.
Their blend of youth, speed, power and pitching (not unlike the 2003 Florida Marlins) proved too much for this formidable team that overcame much to even make the postseason in the first place.
Jeter could not stop the Tribe, as his biggest at-bat of the ALDS proved fatal. With first and third and one out, Yankees down 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Jeter grounded into a inning-ending double play to kill the only real rally the Yankees would muster in Game 4.
He, even more than A-Rod, is directly responsible for another disappointing offensive showing by the Yankees.
Perhaps that's unfair, but he is the face of the franchise.
There's plenty of blame to go around, folks. Chien-Ming Wang, Roger Clemens, Jorge Posada, Giambi and so on.
What's done is done. Now the job for Brian Cashman is to get this club ready for next year and beyond.
If George Steinbrenner makes good on his threat and declines to bring back Torre, the first decision that needs to be made is not easy.
Is Mattingly the skipper? Or Joltin' Joe Girardio?
It's a huge question, because Torre's handling of his club, especially during 2007, played a big role in the team's ability to kick itself back into the postseason.
Some imply that Tony La Russa is on his way to New York, But really, as much as that rumor seems to sense to those outside Gotham, I have a beter chance of running the Yanks next year.
What about Bobby Valentine? Sure, sounds bananas, but never underestimate the Boss and what he craves in a skipper. Juice. Bobby brings that, and a great baseball mind.
An if he wins a World Series in 2008, it would drive the Mets and their fans insane.
For tht reason alone, it might be worth the ride.
But enough of that.
Do the Yankees may a play for Johan Santana, knowing that it would cost them several of their prized young arms?
Do they re-sign Posada?
It was perhaps fitting that he, not A-Rod, had the last at-bat of the 2007 season.
The homegrown All-Star catcher is not a kid anymore, but is coming off his finest all-around season.
Thanks for the memories, Jorge, but three years at 12-15 million isn't a smart move for the Yankees.
Next.
Does the team with the biggest bankroll in all of baseball agree to pay the three-time MVP his asking price of 35 million a year?
I think they will. But they shouldn't.
At this particular moment, given the promise of a 2008 rotation of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Chamberlain, Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the Yankees should take the last season of the House That Ruth Built as a bit of a breath-taker.
Let Abreu go. Let A-Rod go. Let Posada go.
Take that 50-plus million, invest in a bullpen arm or two. Use some of it to buy out Mussina and Kyle Farnsworth and move on.
The Double-A Trenton Thunder just won the Eastern League championship, and those guys aren't that far away.
Jose Tabata hasn't put up the numbers that many scouts and stat freaks have predicted for him, but neither did Robbie Cano and Melky Cabrera.
Austin Jackson and Marcos Vechionacci are coming, and so is the next great Yankee, catcher Jesus Montero.
Sounds desperate, right? Perhaps even fatalistic.
Well, phooey. One year of smart tinkering could mean a decade of excellence. It's worth it.
The confidence is well-placed.
This year, Yankee fans (and the media) finally got a look at the young arms the Yankees have been boasting about for years.
Cultivate them. Young pitching is the most valuable commodity in today's game. Far too valuable to deal, even for Santana. Plus, bringing back the same cast of characters from three straight flops isn't advisable either.
If the Boston Red Sox win the 2007 World Series. I fear that the Yankees will be rash. Don't be.
Let the Red Sox and their fans giggle their way towards oblivion for the next decade. Let ESPN and the rest of the anti-New York national media trumpet their favorite team's world title.
It matters little in the grand scheme of things.
The bill for Julio Lugo, J.D. Drew and Daisuke Matsuzaka will come sooner rather than later.
The Yankees have more important things to do than win a World Series. They have a another dynasty to build.
(BRONX, N.Y.) In the bottom of the first inning, The Yankees had two on
and one out when Alex Rodriguez walked slowly to the plate.