Were he to maintain his current pace over the next six months, he'd end up with over 100 home runs and rewrite the record books. Even if that's pretty unlikely to happen . . . this is a sport where getting a hit once every three at-bats is considered an achievement . . . Rodriguez' return to form has been timely. Just last October, the highest-paid player in baseball's repeated failure to deliver for his team in the play-offs yielded a slew of headlines calling him a "lost cause" and "dead weight", and endless media speculation about his next move. The vast majority of Yankee fans prayed that the winter would see him traded elsewhere.

For all the column inches devoted to guessing his next destination, a move never materialised and in February, Rodriguez showed up for spring training nearly a stone lighter following a rigorous off-season spent in the company of a personal trainer. During the lengthy preamble to the start of competitive games though, he incurred the wrath of the Yankee nation again through his tendency to speak a little too openly. During a radio interview, he admitted something had to give in his troubled relationship with the fans and mentioned he might utilise an exit clause and opt out of his contract at the end of 2007.

Admirable in its own way, that sort of candour was hardly likely to endear him to a group of fans already suspicious of his inability to deliver in big spots on the field, and his spectacular falling-out with the Yankees' captain Derek Jeter off it.

On Opening Day in The Bronx earlier this month, he dropped a straightforward catch, went hitless in his first three atbats, and immediately heard a chorus of boos from the club's notorious Bleacher Creaturers. Later that day, however, he hit a home run and began a run of form so prodigious that the same jeering supporters now talk about how crucial it is that the Yankees extend his present deal.

"Last year just taught me a lot about reality and perceptions, " said Rodriguez of his harsh treatment by fans, media and even teammates who blabbed to journalists about his personality. "It got ugly for a while. People thought I was insane.

I even thought it was the best place to play even during the bad times last year.

What's important is playing the game with respect, and that everybody in uniform respects what you're doing and you go from there."

Rodriguez has been a magnet for criticism since Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks gave him a 10-year $250m contract to play for the Texas Rangers back in 2000. About a hundred million more than everybody else was offering at the time, Hicks eventually realised A-Rod's wages were so hefty it left him with precious little in his budget to pay the other 24 players on the roster. In a piece of business that should frighten the denizens of Anfield, the Rangers had to agree to pay $10m of his annual salary just to persuade the Yankees to buy up the rest of the contract. His agent is reportedly hoping that if he opts out of that deal next winter, Rodriguez will snag another 10 years for at least $200m.

Whether or not some owner will find that cash in the kitty, Rodriguez will become the youngest player in the history of the sport to hit 500 career home runs some time later this summer. The best part about that looming landmark is that he is presumed to have done so without the assistance of performanceenhancing substances. This is why his current streak is manna from heaven for the baseball authorities. As he's been garnering headlines and coverage all along the east coast, the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds has been busy closing in on Hank Aaron's all-time home run record of 755 on the other side of the country.

Purists are so horrified by the prospect of somebody so besmirched by steroids scandals claiming one of the sport's most significant milestones that already many are talking hopefully about the 31-yearold Rodriguez one day surpassing Bonds and reclaiming the record for so-called "clean" players. Before he gets around to saving the soul of the game though, he may have to concentrate on doing his bit to help the Yankees recover from a dreadful spell during which they lost six in a row. A mere blip in a 162-game season, it was still enough to cause panic in a city where perspective is always in short supply in the sporting arena.

After joining the Yankees in February, 2004, the theme of one of Rodriguez' first television commercials was about how difficult it is to live up to expectations in New York. "Tough town, " he says, repeatedly. Not anymore. At least not for him.