Tigers" Sweep Ends Yankees" Punchless Postseason DETROIT - Four-game sweep. It's been a while since the Yankees were on the embarrassing lower end of that particular postseason seesaw. Robinson Cano, who hit .056 in the series, was among the many Yankee sluggers who had trouble in October. Not since 1976, in fact, when they were outclassed in the World Series by Cincinnati's Big Red Machine. But at least those Yankees were on the verge of crossing the championship threshold under the ascendant ownership of George Steinbrenner. Reggie Jackson was on the way into town to stir the publicity machine and provide the missing big bat in a lineup of excellent situational hitters. With their ability to grind and manufacture runs, the 1970s Yankees were worthy ancestors to the mid-1990s crew that began a run of four World Series titles in five years. All due respect for 95 regular-season victories and an impressive September sprint to a division title, it would not be unreasonable to hypothesize that these 2012 Yankees could be headed in the direction against championship parade traffic. Having the broom taken to them by the Tigers on Thursday in an 8-1 defeat that mercifully ended the American League Championship Series, the Yankees bore little resemblance to those aforementioned and revered teams, or even the 2009 championship edition. History will remember them for hitting a team-record 245 regular-season home runs before experiencing the kind of power failure rivaling any blackout in the history of New York. The 2012 Yankees will be reviled - at least in the all-or-nothing context of baseball's most decorated franchise - for making a punchless spectacle of October, along with the case for an overhaul that may not be possible, given the contracts they are locked into. Watching from home, Derek Jeter had to have suffered a broken captain's heart to go along with the fractured ankle that deleted him from the series late in Game 1. Do I believe this team has heart? Brian Cashman, general manager and chief architect, had said Wednesday in what was his requiem for a heavyweight. I have seen them battle all year long through various things. The subject of any team's fortitude is usually a dicey one, with no statistical quantification to make an allegation of heartlessness stand. These are mortal human beings we are reacting to and talking about. The injury to the forever sturdy Jeter - and more than ever the Yankees" leader - was a reminder of that, as was the tender sight of Manager Joe Girardi choking up as he thanked reporters in the interview room for the privacy extended him after the death of his father. Asked if he could explain the single most baffling series development - his best hitter, Robinson Cano, hitting .056 - Girardi said: "No, I can't. You wonder if some of the balls that he hit hard early fall in, it's a different story. In a short series, there are always crossroads moments, a few fateful intrusions. No question, there were tough-luck plays that affected Games 1 and 2, and the Jeter injury was deflating for all the intangibles he brings every day. Still, the aging and high-priced Yankees should not delude themselves regarding a guaranteed future in contention the way the Red Sox obviously did until it was too late. The offensive shutdown may very well not have been an aberration as much as deficiencies camouflaged through the regular season, but revealed against Baltimore's and Detroit's stellar postseason pitching. Until C. C. Sabathia faltered in Game 4, lacking extra heft on his fastball, the Yankees" staff was excellent. But their other starters are old or untrusted. On the whole, the Tigers had career-prime pitchers who consistently threw in the mid-90s. Their lineup - while lacking name depth around the sluggers Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Delmon Young - was more opportunistic. At his own risk, Cashman didn't sound as if he were buying the notion of cracks in the foundation.