No matter how die hard of a fan you are for your home team, no matter how much you hate a certain team, or now matter how badly you want to see a player fail, there are a few players you must respect. Currently it seems hard to have respect for major leaguers at the end of what is known as “The Steroid Era.� Players have tarnished the game by using illegal enhancements, taking away from the beauty of America’s sport, which was previously all about alcoholism and womanizing.

There are still a handful of hard working players that have natural megastar talent and will shine for years to come without the use of drugs. I hate the Yankees, but as a baseball fan, I find it impossible to hate Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod is on fire as we come down to the final stretch of the season. In 141 games he has 165 hits, almost 30 doubles, 52 home runs and 140 RBI’s. He ranks first in the American League in five different hitting categories, which is making this his best offensive season of his career. This natural shortstop has made the transition to 3rd base, and anyone who has played the game knows this is one of the hardest moves to make. Alex Rodriguez could possibly be the greatest baseball player to ever set foot on the diamond.

With all of the hype over Barry Bonds breaking the home run record, no one has been paying much attention to how A-rod looks to destroy whatever numbers Bonds puts up by 2012. When that day approaches in a few short years, I will actually be excited to see the record be broken, unlike this year when I saw Barry hit 757+ with a syringe sticking out of his ass.

A-Rod has lead the Yankees back in the wild card hunt after being out by over 12 games back in early July. His $27,708,525 salary for 2007 seems warranted this year, after what some say “disappointing seasons� in New York. Although, Rodriquez hasn’t won himself a World Series ring yet, there are plenty to come in the near future, possibly this year. Keep your eyes pealed while he is on the field this year, and the years to come.

Alex Rodriquez is the best thing to happen to baseball and might be the best player of all time. The only thing that has to happen now is that he’s got to stop being a dirt bag scum ball Yankee and join a team that he doesn’t have to carry around like and unwanted ugly stepchild.