Play ball.

Although the weather the first few weeks of the season has been topsy-turvy, thwarting the possibility of having any sort of reliable playing conditions, one player hasn't seemed to mind.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has exploded out of the gates, blasting seven homers and driving in 18 to go with an 11-game hitting streak and a .372 batting average. In the first seven games, A-Rod homered six times, to become the first Yankee to accomplish that feat.

He certainly has rediscovered his stroke, the one that earned him American League MVP honors in 2005 when he blasted 48 long balls and drove in 130.

But it's old news. We've all come to expect numbers of this caliber from this larger-than-life Hall of Famer-to-be.

So why is it that the media are still gushing over him? Well, it's New York, for starters. Plus, in terms of what's expected of A-Rod and his $27.7 million salary, he sucked last year.

And boy was he ridiculed for it. Boobirds could be heard floating around Yankee Stadium at the sound of his name as often as cheers, depending, of course, on what he had done in his previous at-bat or fielding opportunity. All season long, Rodriguez was hounded for everything from his eerily high error tally (24) to his offensive game — 35 HR, 121 RBI, .290 AVG — to his work ethic. One time, he was caught sun tanning the afternoon of a game during which he committed two errors. The Tabloids stuck it to him, bashing his good physique and work ethic.

Yankees teammates, however, will be the first to tell you that Rodriguez works harder and logs more hours than anyone else. And now that he's back on track and swinging a big bat, the media's unabashedly drooling over him in agreement.

One minute he's the scapegoat for all of the Yankees postseason disappointments, the next he's their only hope.

Love him or hate him.

But it shouldn't work that way.

Albert Pujols, the only other name in baseball with more prowess than Rodriguez, had the worst average among National League regulars entering his two-homer, five-RBI day Sunday. Even after the game, his average still sits under the Mendoza line at a skimpy .186. Yet no media tycoon has suggested the one-time NL MVP's confidence is shot, or that he's losing focus.

I know it's difficult to compare St. Louis to New York or last year's error-prone Rodriguez to the Gold Glove of Pujols, but seriously, why don't the media stop jumping on the A-Rod bandwagon when he's stellar and jump off when he's, well, still better than most?

Yes, he does play in front of some of the harshest critics; people who have gotten so used to winning that now that is hasn't happened in nearly seven years someone's got to take the fall. And yes, he is the richest man in baseball; he's is expected to perform to those standards.

If A-Rod was dreadful last season, then what was teammate Jason Giambi? Horrific?

OK, so he hit one more homer and had a higher on-base percentage (.413 to .392) and slugging percentage (.553 to .523) than Rodriguez. His average, however, was 37 points lower, he had fewer RBI (121 to 113) and he gets hurt. The latter isn't what you want in a $20 million man. Plus, Giambi's so bad at defense that he's been relegated to full-time DH this season. Since they both made relatively the same amount of money in 2006, they both, you could say, were equally disappointing. But Giambi didn't get booed. He wasn't under the knife every time he didn't perform. That onus fell on A-Rod and on A-Rod alone.

I'm not here to say that Giambi ought to have been criticized more often or that Pujols is having a bad season, because those things aren't important. Understanding that A-Rod — his career numbers, talent, slumps, errors, sun tans and everything else that goes into his being — is great is important. Outside of Pujols and a select few, I don't know that I've ever seen someone quite like A-Rod. I don't know if I ever will.

Kevin is a junior double majoring in economics and journalism. Share your thoughts on A-Rod by contacting him at [email protected].