For the second time in 2015, John Sterling watches his house burn down (and other observations at the end of the Yankee world)

Last night, in the 2nd inning, John Sterling began postulating the Wild Card race. The Master was trying to assure his flock that all is well, that the Evils have built a five-game firewall, which cannot crumble in three weeks. Thus, we can anticipate that exciting one-game season! - quite possibly at home, in the House That Rudy Built, where we consistently crap the bed

John was saying this as the AL East division race was disappearing in laser shots to the left field bleachers. It's not that the Yankees last night were eliminated. They were merely humiliated. And when you look at last night's lineup, you don't see 2009. You see 2013.

Quick: Name a starting pitcher the Yankees absolutely can count on?

Quick: Who out of the bullpen is a sure thing? Betances looks Scott Proctored. Miller hasn't been the same since going on the DL. Shreve is getting clobbered. Who is our 7th inning stopper? Caleb Cotham. (Note: Last night, John actually said, "CALEB COTHAM HAS COME TO GOTHAM!" Yeesh.)

Quick: Without Teixeira, who drives in the runs? A-Rod is 40, going on 65, hitting below .200 since the All-Star break. Beltran is cooling, Gardy is tardy, Ellsbury is - well - meh. And  Bird is 22, barely able to swim, and thrust into crocodile-infested waters. Look at this lineup, and close your eyes, and you're transported back to the time of Vernon Wells, Pronk Hafner and Lyle Overbay - that recurring Yankee nightmare of antiques, who hit for a month or two, then fall apart.

The Mets have captured not only NYC, but a vast segment of the Yankiverse. Last night, I was in a Yankee bar in Syracuse. The Mets game was on, because that's what the drunkards wanted. It will be that way for a long time.

The worst part of last night? Watching Russell Martin clobber his former team.

Martin is the original sin for Hal "I'm Not Cheap" Steinbrenner.

A few years ago, he knocked on our door, asking for a two-year deal. "I'm Not Cheap" was too - well - frugal to sign two-year-deals (aside from the fading Ichiro), because he wanted to lower the payroll to $189 million. Martin went to Pittsburgh and sparked their resurgence. Meanwhile, "I'm Not Cheap" scrapped his payroll plans, watched the Yankees crumble, and then overcompensated - signing Brian McCann to a seven-year-deal. Though McCann is great, you cringe imagining the last two seasons of that contract, and how "I'm Not Cheap" will point to the hobbled catcher, zip up his precious "Hello Kitty" fanny pack purse, and say, "no more big contracts."

Last week, "I'm Not Cheap" - through his surrogate, Brian Cashman - aka "I'm Not Stupid" -announced that the Yankees won't be signing any high-priced free agents next winter, because they want to get below that luxury tax threshold. This is what happens when a sports team cannot lose money, no matter how it is run. They have a firewall, all right. It's not against the wild card. It's against ever losing money, no matter which team owns NYC.

Well, come next April, maybe I'll be the guy in that Yankee bar yelling to put on the Mets.

So... who starts for us in the Wild Card?