He wasn’t the only Yankee who failed in this, the fifth consecutive postseason that has ended without a world title. Matsui, usually as reliable as a Swiss train schedule, didn’t have an RBI in the series, and spent Game 5 trying to hit better pop-ups and harder ground outs than A-Rod. And Robinson Cano, the likely AL Rookie of the Year, made every mistake it is possible to make, both on the bases and in the field.

Randy Johnson couldn’t get out of the third inning in Game 3; Mike Mussina did the same in Game 5. Everybody except Jeter pretty much blew it, and if you’re a Yankees fan, you can add to that list umpire Joe West, whose interference call on Cano ended another potential rally.

So you can say that it isn’t fair to single out A-Rod. The man had an MVP-caliber year and led the league in home runs. He didn’t stink.

The trouble is that five years ago, A-Rod’s agent, Scott Boras, sold his client to the Texas Rangers for $252 million on the grounds that A-Rod was the greatest player in the history of the game.

That’s Boras’ claim, not mine, and, while it got A-Rod a lot of money and fame, it’s also put some heavy liability on him. If you’re going to advertise yourself as the best ever and get paid for being that, you had better either come as advertised or take the heat.

When A-Rod’s career is done, he may well prove to have been as good as Boras said he was, but we’ll be looking at cumulative statistics, not moments in the biggest games of a career. And the trouble with that is that we remember players for moments, not statistics.

I can’t tell you what Paul O’Neill’s lifetime stats are or where they stand in comparison to anyone else who ever played the game. But I can tell you he wouldn’t have gone 0 for 4 in the biggest game of the season. That’s the difference. O’Neill is remembered as a winner. A-Rod is fast becoming Colin Montgomerie — the greatest player never to win a major.

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Bobby Thomson hit the Shot Heard ’Round the World in 1951. Reggie Jackson hit three out in one game of the 1977 World Series. Kirk Gibson hit that Dennis Eckersley slider out of the park and gimped his way around the bases. Willie Mays hauled in Vic Wertz’s drive in the Polo Grounds. Whenever the Yankees needed a long fly in the 1950s, Mickey Mantle was there to provide it.

The truly great players rise to the occasion. It doesn’t happen all the time or in every series. Ted Williams had only one World Series, and it wasn’t a good one. But give a great player a few shots at it, and they’ll rise to the occasion more often than not. Jeter has been to the playoffs every year for the past decade and has more great moments than most.

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A-Rod has been there often enough. This is his third postseason series with the Yankees. Last year, in his first in the ALDS against Minnesota, he was terrific. In the final four games of the ALCS, he was 2 for 17 with a home run and two RBIs, the dinger coming in Game 4. In the final three games, he was 1 for 12 with no RBIs.

That’s the bottom line on him. He is playing for a team whose owner has declared that nothing counts except championships. It has the highest payroll and the biggest stars and the most fans. If you choose to come to the Yankees, you have to perform, not just during the season, but in the clutch.

A-Rod failed the test in Game 5 — again.

“I’m not going to hang my head about it,” he said afterwards. “I played my heart out. I’m going to go out and use it to become a better Yankee.”

Sounds like a plan.

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