The booing is a daily issue during Yankee home games. It resonates to the Bronx Courthouse building, located just a few blocks from the Stadium. There has probably never been a first place team that has heard so many boos directed at one of their players in a season. Alex Rodriguez has been put on the pedestal of underachievement by his own fans. Listening to the talk radio stations in New York is a little confusing. Some defend A-Rod while others criticize him mercilessly. The point that both sides bring up his success, or lack thereof, in key situations. His defenders point to his position as one of the league leaders in game winning RBI. His attackers point to his batting average with runners in scoring position, which has been hovering right around his overall average of .287 throughout most of the season. They say he?s washed up. Then others say he?s playing well, that fans shouldn?t expect him to be perfect. Well then, exactly what kind of season is Alex Rodriguez having? The question has to be answered in a completely unbiased way. If you hate A-Rod, you have to look at his positives. If you love him, you have to look at his failures. In reality, a man who?s hitting about .287 with 26 homeruns and 93 RBI is not having a bad season, it?s actually pretty good. Combine that with his game-winning RBI and you?ve got yourself an All-Star caliber player. The problem with that? it?s not what A-Rod is supposed to be doing. A former and reigning MVP who was once lauded as a 50-50 man is expected to do more. A trade of one of the rising young stars in the league, Alfonso Soriano, was expected to bring more. And last but not least, a massive contract, the largest in baseball history, leaves expectations of greatness. The answer then is, that Alex Rodriguez is having a good season, but not a great season, and he is one marked for greatness. Keeping this in mind, it?s important to note that booing him at Yankee games is not the answer, nor is it justified. He might not be having a great season, but you still don?t boo a good player, whether he?s making massive amounts of money like A-Rod or the league minimum like the late season call-ups will be making. It?s not going to wake him from his funk and it has undoubtedly hurt him psychologically since he has gone from a sure hand at third to 24 errors at the hot corner. Of course, some Yankee fans see this as a cause of their booing and not an effect. Perhaps something that fans should remember is what the Yankees as an organization are actually paying A-Rod. They?re paying him $15 million this year, which will slowly increment until the final year of his contract in 2010, when they will pay him $18 million. It?s a little surprising to note that the salary of the man who plays slightly to his left, Derek Jeter, is already surpassing $20 million. So then, if Alex Rodriguez has something to live up to, the Yankee captain certainly has his share as well. The difference is that Jeter has thrived in this environment for a decade, winning games and championships with intangibles that A-Rod?s supreme talent can never touch. Jeter is revered by Yankee fans, though. It is rightfully so, since he?s the one who?s having a great season, his average hovering close to the .340s, and his name mentioned among the MVP candidates. Even when A-Rod won the MVP last season, he wasn?t showered with affection. The bar that he set previously leaves the fans expecting excellence that translates into rings. That, combined with Alex? constant desire for people to like him, has given him a rough time in his two seasons in New York. Even Jeter, who once was best friends with Rodriguez when he was in Seattle and Texas, doesn?t show the man that kind of love. They probably aren?t bickering, but they?re certainly not close like before. Much was made in New York, during the mid-season attack by the press against Rodriguez about his failures, when nobody on the team came out clearly in his defense. Everyone was looking at Jeter to step up and say something to downplay his teammate?s foibles, but neither he nor anyone else spoke out. All this has been trying for Rodriguez, who throughout it all, is really not having a bad season. What Mike Mussina said earlier in the summer is the most accurate description of who Alex Rodriguez is and what he?s currently doing. After a game in which Rodriguez committed an error that cost them the game, Mussina said of A-Rod, ?We need him to play like he?s capable of in order for us to win? right now he?s not doing that.? Some misconstrued Mussina?s comments as a criticism of his teammate, but what he said couldn?t be more true. Hate him as much as you want if you?re a Yankee fan, you?re team will not win the World Series if Alex Rodriguez is not playing great baseball. The same applies to Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Those three are the centerpieces of the squad. Batting cleanup means A-Rod will see a lot of men on base. If he continues to pop up time after time with men in scoring position, that?s one opportunity less the Yankees will have to score, and that?s never a good recipe for winning championships. If you?re a Yankee fan, you want to see A-Rod succeed because he?s a part of your team. His season is sub-par according to his standards, but that doesn?t mean it?ll stay that way, nor does it mean that his talent is no longer there. It?s just too much talent to lose from one season to another. With little more than a month left in the season, look for one of the greatest baseball talents of his generation to break out of the funk and turn an okay season into a memorable one. It?ll only take a few great swings to turn the tide of boos into cheers. Yankee fans are knowledgeable enough to recognize that.