Alex is red hot; Jeter not a costar…

Why can't they star the season on the same note? The Fates and the headline writers will not permit such synchronicity, apparently. And so yesterday after he slugged his nineth homer of the year in the third inning of the Yankees' 9-2 victory, Alex Rodriguez was busy explaining his surreal power surge while Derek Jeter was hoping those stubborn fielding mistakes were finally history.
The cleat is on the other foot this April - based on a very small sample size of a dozen games. It is not hard to imagine the kind of adoration Jeter would be receiving right now with Rodriguez's start, or the heat that A-Rod would be enduring if he already had committed six errors. The fans surely would be chanting, "Opt out, A-Rod..."
Instead, Rodriguez is winning games and slowly influencing people.
"You have a good feeling you can hit the ball hard to any field," Rodriguez said, about seven homers in the last nine games. "I'm not trying to do too much. It comes from within. There's a saying in baseball: 'Stay humble.'"
This is no time for such modesty. Twelve pounds lighter (the chip on the shoulder accounted for about half that weight), A-Rod is tearing up the spring. Joe Torre says Rodriguez is simply more relaxed, having more fun. Maybe the grand slam came first, then the peace of mind. Either way, his resurrection allows us to consider Rodriguez as a redemptive figure, as a ballplayer who may yet find his own October and a higher pedestal in the sport.
When A-Rod gets on one of these power sprees, it is not even difficult to imagine him as baseball's ultimate savior someday, if he can only surpass Barry Bonds' inevitable career homer mark. Rodriguez, with 473, is more than 90 ahead of Bonds' pace at 31, though we know what happened to Bonds' pace and we think we know why.
Rodriguez's hot bat is most reminiscent around here of Don Mattingly's remarkable surge in the summer of 1987, when the Yankees' first baseman departed from his double-into-the-gap ways to homer in eight consecutive games, tying a major league record.
"The ball leaves the pitcher's hand, you know immediately if it's a ball or a strike," Mattingly said yesterday, describing how these streaks work. "I was just in a groove. But A-Rod has more power. A ball that I might hit good for a double, he hits for a home run."
The yin rises, the yang falls. Rodriguez has been virtually flawless at bat and in the field, where he has but one error. Jeter, meanwhile, owns a solid batting average of .308, but is struggling in key situations at the plate and has been a virtual error machine.
For reasons unknown, this is how it's been with these two guys since Rodriguez came to the Bronx in 2004. They can't both be amazing at the same time. In 2004, neither player had a particularly strong season. In 2005, Rodriguez was the league MVP while Jeter was only good. In 2006, Jeter finished second in the MVP race while Rodriguez was demoted to the eighth spot in the playoffs.
Now it is Jeter's turn to mess up, and until last night he had been doing a good job of it. Torre said he wasn't concerned by Jeter's six errors because there was no real pattern to them.
"As long as it's not in his head, it's not going to bother me," said Torre, who argued that a couple of those throwing errors might have been averted if Josh Phelps were a more experienced first baseman.
Jeter had three flawless assists and appeared cured. A-Rod is seeing the pitches just as Mattingly once did, 20years ago. He is now batting .375 with 21 RBI and a slugging percentage of .979. He struck his home run yesterday to left on a fat 2-2 pitch from Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook, who had nothing.
Let those hamstrings strain, those elbows tighten. If Jeter and A-Rod get going at the same time, finally, anybody can pitch for the Yankees.