AL East

I think it finally sunk in for me right around the time Josh Hamilton was explaining to a live television audience how God allows him to hit baseballs far.

The Yankees were done. Dead. Finito. Their quest to repeat as world champions had come to an abrupt end in, of all places, the land of Friday Night Lights.

How did we get here?

Let me start by saying congratulations to the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers are the ALCS Champions and well deserve to be just that after winning Game 6 against the New York Yankees, 6-1.

Four days ago, I would have said Joe Girardi. Actually, I would have shouted it. I thought he had made one of the biggest blunders in managing history.

It was Game 4 and A.J. Burnett was on the mound and he actually had a lead. The Yanks were up 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning and Nelson Cruz was standing on second base. He had wisely tagged on a deep fly ball out by Ian Kinsler.

What do the years 2001, 2003 and 2010 all have in common? They all involve deep playoff runs and subsequent disappointing playoff exits for the New York Yankees.

Following the 2001 and 2003 seasons, the Yankees acquired a dynamic hitter and veteran pitcher in each offseason, Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina after '01 and Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Brown following '03, and now it is very possible 2010 will also share that distinct similarity.

“In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”

With that one sentence, a city that once loved NBA superstar LeBron James began to burn his jerseys, t-shirts and anything else with the number 23 on it.

He had become the second most hated man in the city, second only to Art Modell of course, the former owner of the Cleveland Browns that oversaw the move of the beloved franchise to Baltimore.

It is hard to fathom a better ending.

Former Texas Ranger Alex Rodriguez, who once signed for a quarter of a billion dollars and juiced with the team, was at the plate. Closer Neftali Feliz was on the mound, ready to get the one out that the franchise has always been waiting for.

An adrenaline-filled fastball missed for ball one, but then three strikes were fired from Feliz’s electric right arm. Rodriguez’s bat just rested on his shoulders as the third whizzed by.

Almost assuredly the most disappointing performance from the 2010 Blue Jays was that of Aaron Hill. No one expected Hill to duplicate his 2009 performance that saw him hit 36 home runs while batting .286 and putting up a powerful .213 isolated power. That outburst at the plate came on the heals of a disappointing and injury filled 2008.

After a day off, the ALCS resumes at Rangers Stadium where Texas will host New York in a pivotal Game 6 matchup. Phil Hughes (1-1, 5.73 ERA) will take the mound for the Yankees against the Rangers Colby Lewis (1-0, 1.69 ERA).

Shaking his head and flashing a deprecatory grin, Joe DiMaggio started talking about it again.

"There has to be an element of luck to it," he modestly told a group of baseball writers, "but the one thing that sticks in my mind is that whenever I kept the streak alive with a scratch hit, I always came through in that same game with an honest hit that could not be questioned. That's what made it so satisfying."

Away from home, down 3-2 in the series, the New York Yankees have their backs against the wall. The Texas Rangers have been phenomenal throughout the series, and they only need one more win to advance to their first World Series in franchise history. But we've seen the Yankees make miraculous comebacks before. Can they do it again? 

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