A-pology A-ccepted?

America Hates A-Rod, or so says ESPN. This week, the Worldwide Leader in Sports ran a poll asking readers to tell the network why they hate the best player of our time. The options were as follows:

a) Costs too much money
b) Cancer in the clubhouse
c) He's just not a winner
d) Just don't care for his personality
e) I'd want him on my team

Maybe that hammered it home for Rodriguez, who approached the Yankees this week and expressed regret for how he handled the whole opting-out situation. As you may remember, he opted out of his contract in the middle of Game 4 of the World Series, angering Yankees fans for deserting them and angering Red Sox fans for stealing their moment. This marks the only moment in history that Yankees fans and Red Sox fans got together in their hatred of one player.

Since, A-Rod has re-evaluated his behavior and his place with the Yankees organization and apparently badly wants to be back in pinstripes. According to a statement on his website, he and his wife have "a foundation with the club that has brought us comfort, stability and happiness." He might need to explain that one to me. He is hated here for all the reasons detailed in my earlier post, A Letter to Alex Rodriguez. His wife is disliked here for wearing a t-shirt to Yankee Stadium that read "F*** you." So I'm not entirely sure that this is the perfect place for the Rodriguez Family to stay.

But it is understandable, isn't it? The Yankees are the best organization in baseball. This is indisputable. Sorry, Sox fans. It's true. There is no more successful, more storied franchise in all of sports and it is fitting that A-Rod, who may just be the best player of all time, would want to finish his career in the Bronx and go into the Hall of Fame with the interlocking NY on his cap. According to John Harper of the New York Daily News, superagent Scott Boras told A-Rod that George Steinbrenner wanted him and that opting out wouldn't hurt his chances of signing with the club. However, Harper tells us, neither Boras or A-Rod counted on Hank Steinbrenner publicly and harshly telling A-Rod to screw off. The heat that A-Rod has taken over the last few weeks apparently sent him into a depressed state and it was out of this despair that he finally stood up to Boras and crawled back to the Yanks.

Barring injury, mental breakdown, or murder by Boras, Rodriguez will likely retire as the best player of all time. He will break Bonds' home run record. He may take a shot at Rose's hit record. And if this week plays out like it's supposed to, he'll do all that in a Yankee uniform. But there's more to it than that. This week may present a turning point in A-Rod's Hall of Fame career. His actions this week have spoken louder than any selflish words he has said over the course of his time in baseball. It seems he is tired of being seen as a prima donna, as a player whose decisions are driven by agents instead of by passion for the game. And this week, he has taken all the right steps to fix that image. By rebuking Boras and expressing humility and regret for his actions, A-Rod seems to have had his baseball Bar Mitzvah. He seems to be maturing, to be becoming a man. If he signs a 10-year deal with New York, he will have a decade with the greatest team in baseball to prove his worth as a team player. He will need to loosen up. He will need to become more media-savvy. He will need to win in the playoffs. But if his recent actions are any indication, this might just be a different A-Rod than we've seen in the past.