Jeremy Bonderman wouldn’t name names, but he confirmed what every Yankee fan know. The Bronx Bombers, baseball’s $200 million team, have a lot of enemies in the baseball world.

Bonderman, who threw 81/3 innings of five-hit ball to lead the Tigers to a series-clinching 8-3 win over the Yankees, told The Post in a champagne-soaked Detroit clubhouse that he got tipped earlier this week on how to pitch the Bombers.

“I had a guy call me up a couple of days ago and give me insight about how to get these guys out, and I have all the thanks in the world for him to do that for me,” said Bonderman. “He didn’t have to do it. It was a great favor.”

Quick, someone get me the outgoing call logs for Curt Schilling’s cell phone covering the days of October 3rd through October 6th.

Schilling would fit the profile here – he studies hitters like no one else. And, he’s ballsie-enough to pick up the phone and make such a call.

Bonderman did look Schilling-ish on Saturday, at least to me.

“I am deeply disappointed at our being eliminated so early in the playoffs,” Steinbrenner said in a statement issued Sunday by spokesman Howard Rubenstein. “This result is absolutely not acceptable to me nor to our great and loyal Yankee fans. I want to congratulate the Detroit Tigers organization and wish them well. Rest assured, we will go back to work immediately and try to right this sad failure and provide a championship for the Yankees, as is our goal every year.”

Rubenstein said he spoke with Steinbrenner on Sunday.

“Clearly he was upset,” he said.

Every time I read one of these Big Stein “statements” via Rubenstein, all I can think of is John Gill from Star Trek lore. I miss the old George reactions.

Not even pithy T-Shirts or select Pacino movies could get the Yankees to the ALCS this year.

Five days ago, about this ALDS match-up, I wrote:

I know that some might see this match-up as the 2003 World Series all over again – facing a young and care-free rags to riches team, with pitchers that throw hard, and they play in a big ballpark, with crafty manager, etc.

But, the Marlins in 2003 were peaking towards the World Series. The Tigers limped into the post-season.

That sounded smart. After all, the Tigers only won 19 of their final 50 games this season. I was wrong. I should have listened to a friend of mine, who told me (on that same day) that, according to the BP keys to post-season success, it would be the Tigers over the Yankees in the ALDS.

In terms of recent Yankees post-season failures in the ALDS, this ALDS loss is not as painful as 1995 – but, it’s just as bad as 1997 or 2002. In terms of overall recent Yankees post-season failures, this series loss is not as painful as 2004 – but, it’s just as bad as 2003.

Yup, in many ways, this Yankees October was 2003 all over again. The “no-names” beat the “big-names” and they stuffed it down their throats in the process.

Watching Jeremy Bonderman cruise through the first 5 innings today, on only 40 pitches, against “Murderer’s Row & Cano,” really drilled the Yankees problem home, to me. Working the pitcher, playing for deep counts, etc., is only successful against bad-to-average pitching. It does not work against good, great, or hot pitching. When you face pitchers who can pound quality strike after quality strike, you better start stringing together some singles for a rally – because you’re not going to get that fat and/or cookie pitch to blast for extra bases. Go ask Sheffield, or Giambi, or A-Rod about that.

Lastly, there will always be a part of me who will wonder if this game would have been different with Wang on the hill for New York – and Mussina pitching Game 5. At the least, if Wang could have kept the Tigers off the board for the first three innings, or so, maybe it would have kept the crowd out of the game for a while and their energy would have not been something for Bonderman and the Tigers to feed from in this contest. As it was, between the Yankees going down in the first on seven pitches, the Ordonez homer in the second, and the Pudge 2-out RBI in the fourth (after the A-Rod error), the Motown faithful were rocking before this game hit the fifth inning.

On the whole, for those in Yankeeland, this game was as ugly as Jeanie Zelasko’s freckled cleavage.

Congrats to the Tigers. They won, fair and square – and in convincing fashion. I hope they win the ALCS now – because I’m not interested in seeing the A’s win and then having to listen about how smart Billy Beane is, all winter. And, since it looks like the Mets have a good shot at making the World Series, I want the team that beat the Yankees to beat the Mets in the World Series. That will keep the Mets fans quiet after this October.

Pretty sad that this is what’s left for a Yankee fan to root for, huh?

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Sheffield 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Rodriguez 3B
Cabrera LF

I love the idea of getting Melky in LF and having Godzilla at DH.

But, here’s where I’m getting dizzy. This game is the Yankees season. It’s must win. Lose and you go home.

Jason Giambi is not playing and Alex Rodriguez is batting 8th.

You tell me, when the Yankees signed Giambi, on that day, if I said to you “In a must win game, do you sit Giambi?” what would have been your reaction?

Also, tell me, when the Yankees traded for A-Rod, on that day, if I said to you “In a must win game, do you bat Rodriguez 8th?” what would have been your reaction?

Mark down today’s date: October 7th, 2006. This is the date that we can look to when judging the acquisitions of Giambi and A-Rod. The results of today’s starting line-up tell you everything you need to know. In a “must win” or die game, the manager of the team feels that he cannot count on these guys to be major factors towards a chance to win.

What a bizarre day this has become – learning about this line-up now. When I woke up this morning, I truly began to feel that the Yankees would win this game today and bring it home for Wang in Game 5. And…I liked New York’s chances in Game 5. But…I thought that A-Rod and Giambi would be part of the win in Game 4. Looks like that was a mistake. Maybe Abreu and Sheffield can be the big men for the Yankees today? Put it this way – they’re going to have to be the ones.

Giambi sits this one out and A-Rod might be lucky to get three At Bats.

Bizarre, indeed.

“We have to come back tomorrow and not play scared,” Johnny Damon said. “We have to believe how good we are. We’re the best team out here and we have to believe that. We need to have more life.”

Next, Damon said “Hey, who are you guys and where’s Mueller, Millar, Bellhorn, Manny and Papi?”

You know that Damon, Jeter, Matsui and Posada are going to show up today. That’s not the issue. Today, the Yankees need big things at the plate from Giambi and A-Rod. Just like the 2004 Red Sox could count on Manny and Ortiz, in a big game like today, Jason and Alex need to be the big men.

Will it happen? We’ll know for sure around 7 pm ET today.

Randy Johnson was not a total bust tonight. Some ground-ball hits early hurt. And, those two two-out RBI hits in the 6th killed his night. But, he could have been worse. Nonetheless, even if the Big Unit went eight today and only allowed 2 runs, it would not matter, because…

Kenny Rogers, the worst post-season pitcher in the history of baseball, held the Yankees to zero runs over 7 2/3 innings pitched. During this time, Rogers made New York batters go 0-17 with runners on base – and 0-8 with runners in scoring position.

Having Kenny Rogers do this to you in October is like allowing Jessica Simpson to beat you in a game of Jeopardy!

The only bright-side to this course of events is that it lends towards the line of logic that suggests “Well, if Kenny Rogers can do this tonight, maybe Jaret Wright can do it tomorrow?”

Actually, if Wright can go a solid 5 tomorrow, Proctor should be good for two and Farnsworth and Rivera can chip in one inning each. But, the Yankees still need to score some runs to force a Game 5 back in New York.

Lastly, if this does not happen, we will have to start to consider the thought that the Yankees are the Atlanta Braves of this century. That may sound mean…but, when you make the post-season every year for the last 6 years and get zero rings in the process, you probably deserve whatever label people hang on you.

Chien-Ming Wang didn’t accompany the Yankees to Detroit because he wouldn’t be available until Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.

Despite Andy Taylor’s instructions to Barney Fife, in this case, I think it’s insane to keep your only bullet in your shirt pocket.

If the Yankees lose tonight, a loss in Game 4 means there will be no Game 5. Therefore, if the Yankees lose tonight, Game 4 is the key game of this series. You need Game 4 before Game 5 is of any concern.

If you still want to start Wright in Game 4, that’s fine. But, at least have Wang there to spot him – like Johnson in Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS and Mussina in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS – if needed.

And, if Wang is not needed in Game 4, the flight from MoTown to New York is not going to kill him for Game 5. Heck, I’ve spent longer trips in my car driving to Yankee Stadium than Wang will have to sit on the plane.

Torre is making a mistake here.

Ben opens with:

Once upon a time, Yankee Stadium in October was electric. The fans were loud and boisterous. The crowd seemed to know something about baseball. They rooted for the Yankee as though every one of the 56,000 fans were a member of the team, and they booed the opposing team as though personally insulted by their presence in the Bronx.

So after sitting through 9 innings of lackluster play by the Yankees and nearly no passion from the fans, I have to ask myself: What happened?

And he closes with:

It’s always fun to go to the Stadium in October and soak in the playoffs. Yesterday was my first playoff game since Game 3 of the 2001 World Series and I had missed the playoff atmosphere.

But after sitting through that debacle yesterday, I still miss that atmosphere. I miss the real fans and the passionate fans. I know the Tigers fans will be out in full force tonight. Where were you yesterday, New York?

That was simply pathetic.

But, it’s in the middle of his feature where Ben hits Yankees fans the hardest:

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to pull off a rare New York doubleheader. I spent the afternoon in the Tier Reserve at Yankee Stadium and the evening in the chilly Loge Reserve at Shea Stadium. For six hours yesterday, I watched playoff baseball in New York and observed fans of all stripes rooting for their respective teams. Let me tell you this: The Mets care a lot more than the Yankee fans do right now.

This is something that I’ve been hearing from many diehard Yankees fans over the last few years – that, come October, it’s the “suits” that take over the Stadium and the “real fans” are missing. I recall one person telling me, around five years ago: “You can spot ‘them’ a mile away. They show up just at game time, or during the first inning, still dressed for work, wearing a Yankees hat that looks brand new – which it is…because they just bought it outside the Stadium when they showed up.”

I have personally been to post-season games at the Stadium since 1977. In fact, I was there 30 years ago today when Hal McRae tried to kill Willie Randolph. And, even back in 1977, you had an amount of “fans” at post-season games who could be labeled as “front runner” attendees.

Therefore, this October “situation” is not totally new – but, it has grown, at the Stadium, over the last few years.

I would estimate that it could happen someday at Shea Stadium, as well – if the Mets make it to the post-season for several seasons in a row.

Just this past Wednesday, I was asking a Yankees fan friend at work if he was going to any post-season games this year and he said “Nah, it’s too expensive and it’s easier to just watch the games on television. I’ll probably enjoy it more that way.”

And, this is the issue. Yankees fans have had October baseball now for 12 years in a row. For many “day-in/day-out” fans, there’s no sense of urgency for them around attending these games – since they’ve had a chance or two to get to one over the last decade. If the Yankees had not been in the post-season for 12 years, and then made it, the diehard Yankees fans would fight over tickets like wild animals (regardless of the cost). Now, it’s too “easy” to say, “I’ll just watch the games on T.V.” and let the “suits” fork over the dough in order to have something “status” to drop in conversation the next day in an attempt to impress someone.

And, when you have more people at the game who barely know the players than those who could tell you Derek Jeter’s middle name, you’re going to get a more sedate crowd at the games.

As a Yankees fan, if this bothers you, I have bad news. The more seasons in a row that the Yankees make the post-season, and the more expensive the post-season tickets get, the “situation” is only going to get worse.

If you look at home many post-season games the Yankees have lost at home since 2004, you have to wonder if the lack of the “true” 10th man has anything to do with it?

I was there for Game 6 of the ALCS in 2004, and, I can tell you that there were many Yankees “fans” sitting on their hands – and just as many Red Sox fans going crazy. It was darn right comfortable for the Sox players that night.

Now, I’m not saying that Yankees fan attendee post-season reaction needs to go back to 1970′s battery-throwing levels, but, it probably wouldn’t hurt to have opposing teams feel a “tad” more uncomfortable about having to face the Yankees and 55,000 screaming fans.

Again, it doesn’t have to be a situation where the other team fears for their personal safety. Just make it like what the Yankees players hear when they go to Fenway Park.

It does get the other team’s attention. And, in the post-season, when little things can make a difference, it helps.

As you can see, many times the Yankees have been tied after two games of an ALDS – with mixed final results.

Taking it a step further, before 2006, how many times have the Yankees won the first game of an ALDS and then lost the second game? The answer: 1997, 2002 and 2005.

The Yankees lost the ALDS in 1997, 2002, and 2005. That’s not a good trend, when looking at 2006.

How long ago was that? Look at it this way: Melky Cabrera was 11 years and 2 months old at the time.