Davidoff: A collective failure by Yankees

ARLINGTON, Texas

You can search all you want for goats in the Yankees Universe. That's one of George Steinbrenner's lesser legacies. Someone has to pay, right?

But the truth, as the Yankees' season ended Friday in ugly fashion with a 6-1 loss to Texas in ALCS Game 6, is simpler. And perhaps tougher to digest. This was a collective failure - the Yankees' base inability to outplay their opponent, $150-million payroll advantage be damned.

"We didn't accomplish what we set out to do. That stinks," Joe Girardi said. "That's not a lot of fun."

It happens. The key is knowing which lessons to learn and which to ignore. We'll get more into these lessons as the Yankees commence their offseason phase, and as the Texas Rangers - one of the game's best stories in a long time - proceed to their first World Series.

For the moment, though, it's meaningful to realize that no one player or official could have plugged the hole. The hole grew too large.

The turning point occurred in the fifth inning Friday night, when the great Vladimir Guerrero punched a 1-and-0 curveball from Phil Hughes over the head of centerfielder Curtis Granderson, bringing home Mitch Moreland and Josh Hamilton to propel from a 1-1 tie to a 3-1 Rangers lead.

Hamilton had been standing on first because the Yankees understandably had intentionally walked him for a second time. But Guerrero, who popped out to second baseman Robinson Cano after Hamilton's third-inning free pass, found himself hitting in the fifth because the Yankees botched Moreland's leadoff grounder to second. Lance Berkman, nowhere near Mark Teixeira when it comes to athleticism, veered too far off first while pursuing the ball, and Hughes arrived too late at the bag.

It's classic, fundamental baseball, the play practiced hundreds of times in spring training. Poor timing, to say the least, to forget such basics.

After Guerrero's double, Joe Girardi lifted Hughes, who labored through his 42/3 innings and 83 pitches. But why go with David Robertson against Nelson Cruz when Robertson has pitched so poorly this series? With CC Sabathia available in the bullpen, why not turn to the superior Kerry Wood? Cruz punished Robertson and Girardi with a two-run homer.

Girardi said that he wanted to save Wood for the sixth inning, and that he didn't want to use Sabathia there against either Hamilton or Guerrero.

Of course, maybe Girardi and the pitching staff would've appreciated a little more room for error. But that prolific offense, the one that led the major leagues in runs during the season, largely sat out the ALCS.

The Yankees totaled 19 runs in six games, and unless you're playing the San Francisco Giants, that's not going to get it done. Cano dominated offensively and Granderson performed at the plate, too, but no one else did much of note. Even Derek Jeter proved just as human in October as he was for the 2010 regular season.

Game 6 provided a fitting last stand, with Texas starter Colby Lewis - considered a capable yet hittable pitcher - limiting the Yankees' lineup to a run, three hits and three walks in eight innings.

The Rangers made the Yankees look old and slow, and some truth rests behind that perception. Not the whole truth, though. Not when pitching to Guerrero, 35, proved so costly, just as Guerrero punished the 2009 Red Sox with a series-winning hit in last year's ALDS.

Time to pack up and head home, and take stock of where the Yankees stand. But if you're inclined to point fingers, when assessing why Girardi's uniform number will remain at 28 in 2011, make sure you use both hands.