Despite winning an American League-best 97 games, the 2006 Yankees ended their season on a sour note, losing rather meekly to the Wild Card Detroit Tigers in the ALDS. Of particular note was the figurative disappearance of their best player Alex Rodriguez, who went 1-for-14 in the series and had many of us wondering how he got the “one” given how he was swinging the bat. It wouldn’t be noteworthy for the overwhelming majority of players to bat eighth in the order on a team with that much firepower, but when manager Joe Torre penciled A-Rod into the eight-hole in Game 4, it was both an eyebrow-raising and embarrassing situation, to be sure.
25 Best Yankees Games of the Past 25 Years: A-Rod’s walk-off caps ridiculous comeback
