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‘Embarrassing’ playoff loss spotlights Yankees’ flaws

By Bob Klapisch, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) –

DETROIT — The notice on the clubhouse chalkboard told the New York Yankees to be ready by 8:30 p.m. — the buses would be rolling to the airport, where a charter flight would whisk them into the darkness of another disappointing off-season. The Bombers hustled and made their plane, which, damningly, was their best effort of the day.

Otherwise, history will not be kind to the team which conned itself into believing it could dominate the sport in 2012. Forget the 95 regular-season wins or the empty claim to the American League’s best record — the Yankees will be remembered for the way they lay down in the ALCS against the Tigers. Not only were the Bombers swept, but their performance in Game 4 — an 8-1 blowout — was an indirect indictment of Joe Girardi’s leadership.

Losing is one thing, But the ease with which the Yankees gave away at-bats spoke to the disconnect between the players and the manager who’d been pleading for better discipline at the plate.

“Embarrassing” is how CC Sabathia described the beat-down, which started taking shape as early as the first inning. The Yankees’ ace was doomed by a two-headed monster — subpar velocity and an inability to command the inside corner against Detroit’s right-handed hitters. Once it became obvious Sabathia couldn’t save the Yankees, once he got knocked out in the fourth inning, the only remaining question was how badly the Bombers would be pummeled on national television.

The result went far beyond Sabathia’s description — it wasn’t only embarrassing, it was a fiasco. The Yankees never once led in the four games against Detroit, having been held scoreless in 36 of the Series’ 39 innings. It was a complete, systemic collapse of the offense, shocking even Jim Leyland, who expected the Yankees, second in the AL in runs this season, to push his Tigers to the brink.

“If someone would have told me we would sweep the Yankees, I would have told them they were crazy,” Leyland said. He’s right; no one saw it coming, certainly not after the Bombers’ stirring Game 5 victory over the Orioles in the ALDS.

That was only a week ago, yet it feels like another lifetime. In the span of a few days, the Yankees’ entire foundation was gone, as if Derek Jeter’s injury destroyed the firewall that had protected them all year. Suddenly there was no leadership, only panic. Alex Rodriguez was shown the bench, if not the door. Robinson Cano fell into the rabbit hole of a 1-for-34 slump. And Girardi guessed wrong on virtually every tactical decision, including his trust in Eric Chavez, who was 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts.

As they approached the end, as the outs turned to a blur in Game 4, the TV cameras caught the Yankees staring blankly in the dugout. They were beaten and they knew it, including Girardi.

Make no mistake, the ALCS was a black mark on this team’s legacy, despite the April-September success. The Yankees cling to the remnants of George Steinbrenner’s credo, that anything short of a world championship is a failure. And true to the ethos, GM Brian Cashman said it was “hard to stomach” as Sabathia was pummeled in the fourth inning.

There were home runs by Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta, a 6-0 deficit, a sold-out crowd at Comerica that was delirious seeing the Yankees’ empire brought to its knees. You knew there’d be no comeback. Not on this day, not in this Series. History was busy flattening the Yankees and wouldn’t be denied.

The Yankees hit only .188 in the postseason, the second-lowest mark in franchise history. Only the 1963 Yankees, who were swept by the Dodgers in the World Series, fared worse (.171), but that was over four games instead of nine.

The 2012 edition had nine chances to recalibrate, to adopt a more sensible approach to its at-bats, to become more patient. Instead, Cano turned into a groundball machine, Curtis Granderson struck out seven times in 11 at-bats, and Nick Swisher, who almost certainly played his last game as a Yankee, leaves with the stain of 1-for-33 with runners in scoring position in the playoffs.

So when Sabathia said “we got outpitched,” he wasn’t just talking about Max Scherzer, who struck out 10 of the 22 batters he faced. The Yankees’ ace meant Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister, who combined to turn the Yankees into the second-worst offensive team in the history of the ALCS.

But if you’re imaging a nuclear winter — a complete remaking of the roster — – don’t waste your time. Cashman steadfastly defended the Yankees’ offensive philosophy, saying the lack of hitting in the four-game sweep “was not representative of what we’re really capable of.”

Girardi had the same reaction, saying he was “surprised” and “disappointed,” but never once acknowledging the Yankees have a much larger problem that’s dogged them since 2009. Even without Swisher, even if Granderson is traded, the Yankees will replace them with left-handed hitters with uppercuts, able to easily reach the stadium’s right-field seats.

Just watch, Cashman will double down on the home runs, just as he’ll stick with Girardi as his manager. Even Kevin Long, the hitting instructor, will be immune to any off-season purge. And despite the swirl of stories that suggest A-Rod is headed elsewhere, he and Cashman insist otherwise.

“I love New York and everything about being a Yankee,” Rodriguez said, implying he would veto any trade to another large-market team. There are hard feelings, for sure, and it’ll take time to repair the relationship. But A-Rod won’t be sacrificed for a new-look, leaner, more creative offense in 2013, even if that’s not what fans want to hear today.

No one is interested in a discussion of hitting theory, only the stunning way the Bombers were shut down not just by the Tigers, but by the Orioles, too. They want to know why Girardi, for all his layers of preparation and efficiency, couldn’t rally the Yankees to at least one victory, why he couldn’t ask them for an extra gear when it counted.

Those are the wounds that’ll last deep into the winter. Another long, maddening stretch between here and spring training where the overriding question will go unanswered: What the heck happened?

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