Take out the contributions of Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, who both hit .500 against Detroit, and the rest of the batting order went 18-for-104. That’s a .173 average. Everybody else in baseball understands your hitters were geeked once they fell behind early and responded by trying to hit every ball out of the park. That’s because they figured it was only a matter of time before the other team started doing the same to the Yankee pitchers.

Torre, on the other hand, has been consistent, maybe the best thing that ever happened to you. He was the buffer all these years between expectations and reality, and every year he got your team close enough to win it all.

He kept everybody happy when dividing playing time among a bunch of midlevel talents like Tino Martinez and Paul O’Neill was touchy, and he kept the spare parts like Jose Vizcaino and Luis Sojo sharp. He made room and time for budding superstars like Alfonso Soriano and Robinson Cano to develop and he usually had all the issues sorted out when the playoffs rolled around.

Now he’s got a roster full of guys who — at least on paper — should be penciled in every day, and less flexibility than ever to make decisions. He treated them like the professionals they’re supposed to be, moving pieces around to account for age and injury, and tried to stay out of their way.

Remember how well that worked for the 2000 team, the one that Torre insisted prepared so well on its own that managing was almost too easy? “I’d have meetings sometime,” he said then, “for my own sake.” Well, this is not that kind of team.

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No, this is team that could use a big, swift kick in the pants, and Torre isn’t so timid that he wouldn’t apply the occasional thwack. But ballplayers will forget the sting soon enough unless they know the manager will be around long enough to do it again.

Torre has shown more patience than the job merited, sought less credit than he deserved, won as often as he should have and never once complained.

If that adds up to a pink slip now, you’d better have a pad of pink slips handy. You won’t find anybody that good at covering your back for twice the price.