Irony

Don't look now but the principal reason the New York Yankees have a winning record is a certain gentleman who goes by the name of Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod has hit a league leading 10 home runs in 14 games, two of them walk off dingers. He also leads the league in RBI with 26 and is batting a tick over .350.

The reason for his offensive outburst: "It's just fun," Rodriguez said after his latest game winner against the Indians on Thursday. "It's going out and not trying to do too much, and help the team win."

At a time when the Yankees pitching staff is reeling, A-Rod has been the glue holding the team together (Jeter leads the league in errors with 6). Yes, he still needs to show he can do this in October. But perhaps the knowledge that he can walk away from all this at the end of the year has given A-Rod a sense of freedom he didn't have in the Bronx prior to this year. And that freedom is allowing him to swing the bat without worrying how each particular swing is going to define his legacy.

He's just a guy playing ball. And that's good for A-Rod and the Yankees.