Yankees' all-time World Series choke in Game 5 adds new dark cloud over franchise

Ask anybody in attendance for Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Through four innings, there was absolutely no doubt the New York Yankees were forcing a Game 6 in Los Angeles. They led 5-0, Gerrit Cole was dealing, and the offense was thumping from top to bottom.

But then the top of the fifth arrived, and an all-too-common meltdown occurred in a flash. Aaron Judge made his first error of the entire year, dropping an easy fly ball that put runners on first and second with nobody out for the Dodgers. Then, Anthony Volpe made a nice play on a grounder but made a throwing error on an off-balance attempt to load the bases.

Cole was put in an unfair situation, but he stepped up. He struck out the next two batters, one of whom was Shohei Ohtani, to leave it up to an ice cold Mookie Betts to deliver for LA. Betts squibbed a grounder to Anthony Rizzo, which appeared to be the final out of the inning, but Cole didn't cover first base. Betts was safe, a run scored, and then Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez drove in two runs apiece to tie the game after falling behind in 1-2 counts.

In stunning fashion (to the national audience, not to Yankees fans), the 5-0 lead was blown in a matter of minutes. The Yankees would later reclaim a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth, but would give it up in the top of the eighth. Aaron Boone's excessive use of the bullpen finally came back to bite him after Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases before he could record an out. Two sacrifice flies later, and the Dodgers had a 7-6 lead.

Care to know how many teams facing World Series elimination blew a five-run lead and lost? Zero! Care to know how many times in World Series history a team blew a five-run lead and lost? Six ... out of 233. It was an historic choke job that takes this franchise's modern day failures to new heights. The Dodgers notched the largest comeback in an elimination game in World Series history with their 7-6 win.

Yankees lose World Series to Dodgers in five games after all-time meltdown

Three errors cannot be made in a do-or-die game. Hitting 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position also cannot happen. But the Yankees' lack of discipline, tightness and penchant for situational hitting have been themes for years now. That was the difference in this series.

In fact, the Dodgers were just as bad with cashing in run scoring opportunities. The Yankees just emphasized their ineptitude with poor play around the margins and cost themselves a championship. The Dodgers might have been the better team. They deserve all the credit in the world. But upon further review, this will go down as the Yankees losing a title rather than the Dodgers actually winning it.

What else? During that fifth-inning meltdown, Cole spent 20 straight minutes on the mound without a break. Aaron Boone did not call for a visit. He sat there and watched the chaos unfold without offering support to his team as they suffered and floundered.

Sadly, this team never deserved to win a World Series, especially when you stack them up against the Dodgers. LA dealt with unimaginable injuries this year and continued to overcome adversity and got stronger with each passing obstacle. The Yankees did the opposite of that. They folded under pressure over and over again. They trusted their process despite the results not yielding success. The relied on star power and talent, refusing to mix in discipline, fundamentals and grit. Again, they were barely above .500 from June until the end of the regular season.

Game 5 unfortunately represented the Undertaker waiting in the wings while everybody was distracted by the moment of hysteria that was soon to dissipate despite no indication of that being the case just minutes prior.

The New York Yankees had a successful season. But they exited stage right abruptly, and in a manner that was not at all a shock to those who were dialed in for all 162+ games this year. They just happened to get a little further along this year before letting everybody down in a new, historically embarrassing way.