"At first, it was fair to ask if Jim Leyland had gotten himself trapped in a time machine. The last time the Tigers had faced the Yankees in an American League Division Series, in 2006, Robinson Cano was just completing his first full year as a major leaguer. He may have hit a gaudy .342 that year.

But he was still sitting No. 9 in the batting order.

"The Yankees," Leyland quipped five Octobers ago, "are Murderers Row plus Cano.""