Derek Jeter, meanwhile, does very little to get people to like him ... and he is beloved.

This must drive Rodriguez absolutely crazy.

I am not here to criticize Rodriguez, though. I'm not interested, and besides, the line is too long.

No, I'm here to help him.

In the next six to nine weeks, as he rehabs his hip, A-Rod should give some serious thought to why people don't like him. He isn't terminally surly, like Barry Bonds. He doesn't have a temper like Milton Bradley or a rape conviction like Mike Tyson. He can, in theory, be liked. If he gives this enough thought, he can make the rest of his career a lot more enjoyable.

A-Rod got pummeled in the media for his recent series of "Do you believe me now?" steroid admissions; it seems that nobody believed him. But the shame is not that A-Rod might be lying about his steroid use.

No, the shame is that he might be telling the truth.

Remember: He had to respond only to a Sports Illustrated report that he had failed a steroid test in 2003. Pretty soon, he told the media that: a) He had been taking steroids for three years and b) He got them through a cousin in the Dominican Republic.

Find me another famous PED-user who offered up that much info, midcareer, without being forced to do so.

You probably can't. And while people are skeptical about A-Rod's claim that his steroid use conveniently ended right before he got to New York, that is plausible, too. His Yankees tenure began the same year baseball instituted penalties for positive tests. If Rodriguez stopped then, he surely isn't the only one.

So let's say, hypothetically, that he was telling the truth. (I have no idea, of course, but play along.) I think it says so much about A-Rod that he can't even tell the truth right. He blamed the loosey-goosey era and said he was young and foolish, and it sounded like he was explaining why he stole a bag of Jolly Ranchers when he was 10.

Reggie had an ego the size of Russia, and his insecurities were as naked as a newborn.

Half his Yankees teammates seemed to want to kill him, and the other half were on the fence. But New Yorkers eventually came to accept him, even love him, because he was a great player and at least they knew who he was.

New York is a tough town, but New Yorkers love athletes who throw temper tantrums (John McEnroe), have used performance-enhancing drugs (Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte) and been addicted to recreational ones (Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden).

But they won't forgive your flaws unless you acknowledge them. They won't accept you as human unless you admit you are.

What's too bad is that this A-Fraud rap is affecting Rodriguez's on-field reputation. Last year, which was a down year for Rodriguez, he hit .302 with 35 home runs, a .392 on-base percentage and a .573 slugging percentage despite playing with hip pain that now requires surgery. For comparisons' sake: the immortal Derek Jeter went .300/.363/.408 last year, and Jeter has never slugged .573.

His postseason struggles are overblown, too. Give him another postseason or two and Rodriguez should perform like he did in Seattle.

There is still time for Rodriguez to earn some love from fans. With every year, steroid use in the pre-testing era makes more sense — with their inaction, MLB and the players union tacitly encouraged players to use them. Three years from now, A-Rod might just seem like another star who took advantage of the system.

As for his personality: A little self-deprecation and candor can go a long way for Rodriguez.

Americans love a good redemption story. Alex Rodriguez can be one. But only if he wants to be, and only if he realizes that his problem is not New York or the fans or Jeter or the media. It's him.

Think about that, Alex.

And get healthy.

(But dont use HGH to do it, OK?)