Hello, Yankiverse? Hello, self? This is your conscience speaking: It's no longer cool to attack Arod

Dear el Duque, Alphonso, Mustang - or whatever you call yourself - and various contributors, commentors, bloggers, bleacher creatures, rest room sex videographers, Rah-Ool sign-painters and merchants of Juju throughout the Yankiverse; you know who you are...

Testing, one, two, three. Hello? This is your conscience speaking. 

Yes, I know, it's been a while.  I've been - well - it's complicated, I had a free weekend, some buddies dropped in, we went to a bar, and there was this back room, where David Lee Roth was dealing cards and I - well, look - this isn't about me! I'm here to talk about Alex.

Yes. Alex. The name is Alex. Not A-Rod. He's a person. He has kids. He has an ex and a family. He has friends. He has feelings. He has pride. And this week, he just ate an emotional turd the size of your Volkswagen Rabbit, and you know what? It's time to stop throwing darts at him.

It's no longer funny. We didn't mock Eric Hinske. We didn't ridicule Lenn Sakata. I'd like to think that we - the Yankiverse - chose our whipping mules carefully, and with reason. Thus, A-Rod was perfect for our wrath, for our need to push pins into something tangible. But it's time to stop. It's time to move on.

From now on, Alex Rodriguez is just another player on this team. He will never again be a stud that we pencil in to hit 40 HR and bat .300.  For whatever reasons - age or bodily abuse, or maybe just fatigue - his role will always be diminished, and his expectations will never be the same. He might rebound in 2013 - maybe 25 HR and .280 - but not the slugger he once was, he's not the lynchpin on which the Yankees rest... and it is time for us to deal with it. And deal with him... Alex.

On Mickey Mantle's centerfield plaque, it says he was a great teammate.  And it's true.  For all the inner demons and self-loathing that led to his alcoholism, the Mick loved his colleagues. He was never a head case. This week, Alex displayed a classiness that many lesser players have never attained.

Think about it. Think about all the players of far less stature than Alex, who when benched in the regular season squawked and squealed like stuck pigs. 

Now, he's hurting. He's got to be hurting bad. And I don't care how much money he makes. If you're going to start judging people by how unfair the financial system is, buy a megaphone and go to Wall Street Street, because Alex Rodriguez - for every wasted strike out - has still done more to earn his money than most of them.

It's time to back off Alex Rodriguez. This is your conscience speaking. Now, if you'll excuse me, David Lee is cutting the cards...