It was the bottom of the seventh inning, one out, bases loaded, the game on the line in the Bronx. On Tuesday night, the Yankees trailed the Red Sox by four runs, five games in the American League Wild Card standings, and up comes Alex Rodriguez.
It was the same Rodriguez who had 31 RBI's in the eighth inning or later last season. It the same Rodriguez who hit three walk-off homeruns in last year's MVP campaign. And with the season on the line and the stadium ready to explode, Rodriguez managed to ground quietly to the shortstop side for a routine, inning-ending double play.
And just like that, Rodriguez pulled the plug on the fans in Yankee Stadium, his teammates, and the Yankees 2008 season.
For all those who didn't have the pleasure of watching the game, there was nothing new. It was the same old Yanks from this season. The same cast of characters who, with as much talent as any team in the league, could not get it done in the clutch.
There were no sacrifice bunts or flies or signs of fundamental baseball, but there were plenty of strikeouts and pop-ups with runners in scoring position. And as hard as the Yankees tried, they couldn't knock down the brick wall that is some how erected between third base and home plate when they come up to bat.
Even worst, with Andy Pettitte on the mound for another dagger-driving loss, it appears that the Yankees and their fans have nothing to hope for or fall back on.
Yes, this was the same Pettitte from the Yankees' World Series teams, the same Pettitte who won big game after big game when his team needed him the most. But with his team in dire need of rescue, Pettitte just couldn't wiggle out of his toughest jams.
And if the Yankees are so lost in pursuit for the recipe for success, they can look right across the diamond into the Red Sox dugout for the answer.
There is no temper-flaring, tone-setting, Kevin Youkilis type of person in the Yankees dugout. The closest thing the Yankees have to that is Paul O'Neill, and he can do no help from his seat in the broadcast booth.
The Yankees have no Big Papi, but instead got a shell of a former MVP in Jason Giambi. No bash on Robinson Cano's developing hitting skills, but when was the last time you saw him dive for a ball?
And boy, the Yankees do miss their true leader in Jorge Posada.
In October, the leaves will still fall and the temperature will still drop, but in the Bronx it won't be the same. After 13 straight seasons of playoff baseball, the New York Yankees will not be participants. And the Stadium, with all its pageantry and history, its mystique and aura, will end its days in a disappointing style.
