1. Going into Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS I was convinced that Kevin Brown could not pitch well. Brown was a wreck physically and mentally. He was totally untrustworthy in a big spot – and what bigger spot could there be than Game 7 of the ALCS vs. the Red Sox, who were historically trying to come back from 0-3 down? I thought the Yankees should have played that game as close to backward as possible. My idea was to start main setup man Tom Gordon and try to get two innings out of him and attempt to stabilize the game early. The worst option, I believe, was to let Brown essentially pitch the Yankees out of a game before the team really had a chance, and that is what happened – with an assist from Javier Vazquez.

I think of this again tonight as the Yankees get ready to play ALCS Game 4 against the Rangers. A.J. Burnett is technically starting. But I would think of him only as the first reliever. This is not an elimination game for the Yankees, but it is darn close. If they lose, the Yankees would have to win three straight, the last two in Texas, the finale against Cliff Lee in order to advance to the World Series. Thus, Burnett cannot be permitted to pitch the Yankees out of the game. The first sign of trouble and the Yankees should get Joba Chamberlain up and tell him to go as long and as hard as he can. Every reliever, except Mariano Rivera, should be on full alert from the first pitch tonight. The Yankees have CC Sabathia on full rest tomorrow and they just have to have blind faith that their ace can log the ball deep and effectively into the game.

The Yankees should look at every out that Burnett gets tonight without pitching the team out of the game as a blessing. Burnett has not pitched in 17 days. He has not won since Sept. 1. The chances of him pitching well tonight are not very good. The lineup that Texas is most likely to send out tonight – Elvis Andrus, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Victor Cruz, David Murphy, Ian Kinsler, Bengie Molina and Mitch Moreland – is a combined 40for-174 (.230) with 18 walks and 41 strikeouts. But everyone from the second slot through the seventh slow in that order has a homer off of Burnett. And, of course, the Rangers have shown they are going to be very aggressive in this ALCS and Burnett is the easiest starter to steal on in the majors.

I would be surprised if Burnett lasted more than three innings. So, again, be ready bullpen.

2. But as I wrote in this column for the final edition of the Post, ALCS Game 4 is not a referendum on Burnett. It is on the whole team. Burnett has not lifted his arm yet in this series. He has nothing to do, in other words, with what pretty much has been non-stop Ranger dominance. The Yankees have had malfunctions everywhere. Bad starts in Games 1 and 2. Bad relief pitching in Game 3. And pretty much bad offense in every inning except the eighth inning of Game 1.

This has been a team effort to fall into a two-games-to-one hole and it will take a team effort tonight to overcome Burnett and the Rangers. There are no excuses. A championship team figures out a way.

At this moment, this ALCS feels a little bit to me like Yankee Division Series in 2002 against the Angels and 2006 against the Rangers. In both of those series the Yankees entered as a strong favorite and won the opener, which only elevated the sense of a Yankee romp. But on both of those occasions the Yankees never won another game in the series; once they were hit they went down and stayed down, unable to find a counter-punch. Do the 2010 Yankees have a counter-punch?

We are pretty sure Burnett will not be the guy who throws it. And as I pointed out in the column I did before last night’s Game 3, the Yankees’ worries with Burnett extend well beyond Game 4 of this ALCS.

3. I spoke to a Yankees official last night and another today and both insisted Andy Pettitte has not told the organization he is retiring.

But there were a few items from last night that made me wonder if Pettitte has indeed decided to retire after this season, but just simply is keeping that to himself.

First, he asked to go to the interview room. Usually the only person from the losing team that goes to the interview room is the manager, who goes first before any of the personnel from the winning team comes in. But Pettitte specifically asked to go to the interview room first. He said it was because he did not want to talk in the clubhouse. But I have never known him to ever have a problem speaking in the clubhouse before. Pettitte has been in the interview room a ton as a successful postseason player and I was wondering if maybe he wanted to go in one last time.

Second, he was asked if he thought that this might be his last game in Yankee Stadium. It was my perception that early in his answer Pettitte choked up just a drop before recovering.

Third was his answer. Pettitte has always responded to all retirement questions by saying he will think about it in the offseason when he has time to get distance from the game and also to convene with his family. But in this instant, Pettitte said: “I would say, you know, when I’m out of the game, sitting in the clubhouse, you kind of think about that. But then there’s a lot of baseball to be played, left. And I feel real good about our team and about the club that we have.”

All of this could be explained in another way: Pettitte wanted to get out of the Stadium quickly last night, so he simply asked to do the interview room. I misread the momentary hesitation as choking up when it was something else. Pettitte went off script by accident, not because he knows for sure that if the Yankees do not rally to win this ALCS that his career is complete.

But I will say this: In recent years, when Pettitte has said he will weigh retirement in the offseason, I was always pretty sure he was coming back for the competition, camaraderie and money. Hearing and watching him last night I am less sure about that than ever before.