Look at the 1980 and 2002 Yankees. Man, those teams were stacked. Both won 103 games in those seasons. Yet, both got their rear kicked in the post-season.

When you think of these teams, what do you think of more, the 103 wins or their October nightmare? If you’re a Yankees fan, it’s probably the latter.

When you look back at high-win/no-ring teams like the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954 Cleveland Indians and 1969 Baltimore Orioles, because the post-season format was different, you can at least say that they got to play in a World Series. But, then there are teams like the 1993 Atlanta Braves or the 2001 Seattle Mariners…who had big win total seasons and then got bounced in the playoffs…like the 1980 and 2002 Yanks…

…well…they do cast a shadow but they don’t hold up to the light, do they?

Looking at that 2002 Yankees team, and seeing how many of the players on that team played in New York from 2002 through 2007 (Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera) and then looking at the other players who were there for most of that time albeit not all of it (Scott Proctor, Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, Andy Phillips, and Alex Rodriguez), I wonder who will be the last one out of this gang of post-season sufferers to play for the Yankees?

Mussina, Giambi, Proctor, Williams and Phillips are gone. Matsui should be gone after this year. Rivera and Posada are getting older. That leaves Jeter and A-Rod. Which one will be the last one standing in New York? Right now, contractually, Rodriguez has the longer life – as his current deal runs through 2017.

Yikes, for Alex’s sake, if he lasts that long in Yankeeland, let’s hope all those seasons are not ring-less. If they are, wouldn’t that be something? Imagine the Yankees going 17 years without a World Championship and A-Rod being on the team for 14 of those 17 years? That’s not exactly something that a ballplayer would want on his resume.