MLB: The End May Be Near For The Yanks

They weren’t scared, George Steinbrenner claimed. The Yankees were just struggling at the end of the season. But it’s more than struggling; it’s a all-out collapse. Game One at Oakland should have been won by the Yankees. They went in with the playoff experience, the veteran leadership, the feeling that they’ve done this all before. Oakland went in there with a bunch of kids who haven’t been this deep into a season. But it was the A’s that showed poise at the end. It was the A’s that showed no nerves. The A’s looked like they had been there before. The Yankees looked scared. Scared of the fact that its run of World Series titles may be coming to a close. Scared of the fact that this could be the last time the nucleaus that has brought New York such glory in years past, the group of Torre, Zimmer, Cone, O’Neill, Martinez, play together. The decline of the Yankees, and how steep the decline is is a matter of personal belief, was evident again. When Oakland scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, off a single by Ramon Hernandez, it was the type of ball that four years ago, Paul O’Neill gets to on a bad hamstring in Atlanta. Tuesday night, on a perfectly good set of legs, O’Neill couldn’t get there. Tuesday night was the type of game that Roger Clemens was brought to New York to win, the type of game that the Yankees needed, like Game Four of last year's World Series. While Clemens was effective, he didn't go into the later innings like the Yankees needed from him. And as Clemens went off the mound, instead of Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Stanton ran in from the bullpen. Stanton, ineffective all year, struggled again. Jeff Nelson came in, but to no effect. Like he has most of this year. Meanwhile, it was a "ragtag" bunch of pitchers that held Oakland together. In the hype of young studs like Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder hangs Gil Heredia, the steady veteran, showing his poise after falling quickly behind by two runs. There was reliever Jeff Tam, striking out Derek Jeter to end a threat. Then came Jim Mecir, rescued from Tampa Bay, to play the role that Stanton and Nelson should play, the role of stopper before the closer, Jason Isringhausen instead of Mariano Rivera. Truthfully, the Yankees should have won the game earlier, when they were up two quick runs. The teams of the past few years would have put the hammer down. Instead, New York let down. This all goes back to the end of the season. Yes, postseason experience counts; but the experience is not what holds this Oakland team back. They don’t know what it’s like to try and close out an opponent in the postseason like the Yankees, but over the past few weeks, every game held win-or-hit-the-golf course importance. That's experience. It's experience, it's pressure, like the playoffs they are now in. It's the type of pressure the Yankees haven't faced all year. New York backed into a division title. They backed into a title against teams that they should beat with its eyes closed. The Devil Rays, the Orioles, the evidence is there. It seemed like the struggles of earlier in the season, the constant questions of David Cone's arm, the throwing problems of Chuck Knoblauch, wore them down. New York sounded tired the last few weeks when they talked about the postseason. They played tired at the end of the regular season. A message could have been sent to the rest of baseball, that the Yankees were serious contenders. Instead, the message sent was that they were beatable. This could be the last stand for New York. Martinez, by all accounts, is done in pinstripes as the Boss's Mo Vaughn obsession grows. Cone should be done. The arm problems of Orlando Hernandez has opened the eyes of some to just how old he may actually be. Knoblauch talked of retirement rather than working through his problems. Meanwhile, sitting on the bench, no one knows when Torre may leave, especially with more and more comments from Steinbrenner popped up than in years past. The question of just who would follow Torre, into such a hot seat, is pondered with no obvious candidate. Those are questions usually asked after a season is over. It may be that time soon for New York. You see, it shouldn't have been the Yankees that blinked on Tuesday night. They walked in defending themselves, insisting they could turn it on for one more run. Then, on Tuesday night, when they needed that higher gear, they couldn't find it. The Yankees, instead, find themselves down just one game, but in more ways than just the series standings. They let the A's get on top. And as we've seen the last week, when the American League West was up for grabs and the wild card as well, Oakland is pretty good in that position.