Play for pay is how many would judge the baseball players of this era, a rather mercenary lot who change teams more often than any casual fan can keep up with.  The Yankees, the hated (in some circles) Yankees, the team that ruined many a childhood dream for young fans in the past, find themselves on the verge of elimination to a team of virtual nobodies.  America has been wondering who these Detroit Tigers are.  Everyone knows who “Pudge” is (and if you do not, you are not much of a fan), but the rest of this crew is a collection of cast offs, young unknowns and role players.  

Everyone does know their manager, though.  Jim Leyland has been at it for a long time in major league baseball, most recently with a brief stint in Colorado where he resigned after one year, claiming he needed a rest.  Who wouldn’t need a break after managing the Rockies in one of the most difficult places to win?  But Detroit offered no picnic to the new manager, and no one expected this team to be in this position on opening day last April. 

And the mighty Yankees did not expect to be in this position at any time yesterday as they faced a pitcher who they had consistently pummeled since 1993.  With a .391 team batting average for the starters against Kenny Rogers, it seemed inevitable that this soft throwing, at times controversial, aged pitcher would succumb to the might of a carefully crafted team of all stars. 

But he did not, dominating them for 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8.  The pitching matchup of fellow 43 year old Randy Johnson did not materialize; Johnson was removed in the sixth inning, having allowed five runs (something he has done in each of his last three starts prior to this game), battling an aching back as much as the scrappy lineup of the Tigers. 

So many root against the Yankees.  They win too much.  They buy their players. They are arrogant.  All sorts of reasons are cited by the fans to dislike this organization.  But the Yankees win for one reason, and one reason only; they are a professional organization led by one of the truly great managers in major league history, Joe Torre.   Undoubtedly Torre will enter the Hall of Fame at some point, not on the strength of his playing career(which was a good one), but as a manager, along with Casey Stengel, Miller

Huggins and the other managers who have excelled.  The trials of Alex Rodriguez continue, and if the Yankees should win the 4^th game and return to NY, if A-Rod has not performed up to the standards of a “true Yankee”, it will be interesting to see if the Bronx fans will unleash their fury on this player who will ultimately be remembered as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. 

But does a great career make a great player?  Some would argue no, as the comparisons to Derek Jeter are inevitable.  Jeter performs on the big stage with aplomb, loves the spotlight of October baseball, and relishes the opportunity to either succeed or fail rather than shying away from it, as some would suspect is the case with Rodriguez.  After all, Torre dropped him down to sixth in the batting order in the first game, in an effort to ‘protect’ him from failure.  Naturally the baseball gods would

have none of that as he found himself batting with the bases loaded and two outs, ending that threat with a strike out.  History will judge this team with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, but they look like mortals against this young and very aggressive Tiger pitching staff.   Young that is except the 43 year old southpaw who was perhaps the most aggressive player on the field, setting the tone for his teammates, some of whom were barely out of diapers when he made his debut in the big leagues.

The Minnesota Twins ended their fabulous season with barely a whimper against the heady Oakland A’s.  Uncharacteristic miscues in the field and leaning on Brad Radke’s torn and broken shoulder for support spelled doom for this hustling team that is a mirror image of the conquering A’s.   The fact that their season came down to this revealed the lack of depth in the starting rotation, or the lack of confidence of manager, Ron Gardenhire, in his alternatives. 

Beating eventual Cy Young winner, Johann Santana, in game 1 set the tone and immediately had the Twins backs up against the proverbial wall. With arguably the league’s best offense (in terms of batting average, at least), their bats were silenced by Barry Zito and Dan Haren, with the unheralded bull pen stepping up and allowing  only three runs as the punchless A’s lineup rolled through the Twins pitchers with eight runs.

And the A’s still had a 16 game winner sitting on the bench who had not seen any action in these playoffs yet, and one was not scheduled to even start a game, Joe Blanton.   In spite of the five run lead going into the 9^th, Ken Macha opted for Huston Street, the young closer just two years removed from the University of Texas.  Not want to leave anything to chance or the naysayers

who have belittled his decisions in the past (ie. pinch hitting for Jermaine Dye against the Red Sox two years ago, using a back up catcher Adam Melhuse instead), Macha did not pull any punches in sending Street back to the mound to close out what would be the decisive game three victory.  

The Oakland Athletics' Marco Scutaro, top, jumps over Minnesota Twins' Lew Ford to turn a double play in the ninth inning of Game 3 in the American League Divisional Series baseball game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2006, at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.(AP Photo/ Eric Risberg)

No one could have foreseen an Oakland sweep, certainly no one in the Minnesota dugout, nor even anyone on the Oakland side.  They might have been hoping for a sweep, but to predict one would have tempted the baseball gods to strike them down as they have done in the past.  Suddenly the baserunning gaffes of Tejada and Byrnes are forgotten, the brilliance of Jeter to flip the ball backhanded to Posada to nip Jeremy Giambi who chose

not to slide, or the failures of the “Big Three” in previous playoff series.

Mulder’s career is in jeopardy, Hudson suffered through one of his most frustrating seasons to date, while Zito’s bright light shined on national tv in game 1.  His agent, the despised Scott Boras, must have been rubbing his hands in glee as he most assuredly will cash in on his client’s performance.

Top-Minnesota Twins' Torii Hunter , left, slides into home plate as Oakland Athletics catcher Jason Kendall, center, moves in to make the tag during the sixth inning of Game 3 in the American League Divisional Series baseball game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2006, at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. Home plate umpire Mike Everitt called Hunter out on the play.(AP Photo/Ben Margot

The umpire clearly missed this call as Hunter attempted to make up for what he considered a major error in game 2, allowing Mark Kotsay's hit to roll to the centerfield wall for an inside the park home run. Curiously no one has asked why it took so long for the rightfield, Cuddyer, to back up that play, retrieve the ball and thow it in.

Below-Minnesota Twins Torii Hunter , right, argues with home plate umpire Mike Everitt after he was called out at home plate against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning of Game 3 in the American League Divisional Series baseball game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2006, at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

But the real story line, that has finally become a national story, is the performance of Marco Scutaro.  With four rbis yesterday, Scutaro has erased any doubts in the minds of the national media that the A’s are not crippled by the absence of Bobby Crosby.  Curiously, Crosby was out shopping on the off day, walking around and had to be treated that evening for his chronic bad back which has made no progress in healing and

will undoubtedly prove to be troublesome for the rest of his career, which may be shorter than anyone, including GM Billy Beane, expected.  With the capacity crowd in the newly downsized Oakland Coliseum screaming his name as he came to the plate in the 7^th inning, Scutaro, a Venezuelan shortstop in the mold of Aparicio and Vizquel, calmly laced a double down the right field line, clearing the bases.  

As expected, these American League playoffs have held more interest for the average fan than those in the National League.  And everyone expects the AL winner to easily vanquish whoever comes out of the Senior Circuit.  At least on paper it looks  that way, but that is why they play the games.  Just ask the Yankees.  They know better.  Now.