This is today’s Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook as heard on 97.9 WCHL. You can listen to previous Sports Notebooks here.

A-Rod is having an amazing season, but an all-star?

Who would have guessed that Alex Rodriquez would have come back from a season-plus suspension to do what he’s done for the New York Yankees? A-Rod will be 40 at the end of this month, and he has exceeded almost everyone’s expectations . . . except maybe his own.

A .280 batting average with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs is good for anyone after 83 games, but for a 40-year-old guy who hadn’t played since the 2013 season and doesn’t dare use performance enhancers anymore, well, it must be a shock for the Yankees, who hoped A-Rod would just walk away from his $27-million contract.

And if he weren’t carrying such a tarnished reputation as a repeat PED user and, worse, a liar who apologized with hand-written notes to everyone but his sixth-grade teacher, A-Rod would be a sentimental choice to make the American League all-star game roster. But there is little sentiment left for this guy.

He is playing for his legacy and an aging team that barely leads the American League Least, and whether he and the Yankees can keep it up for the second half of the season will be big storylines after the all-star break. A-Rod said he would walk to Cincinnati to play in what would likely be his last All-Star Game, but he is better off taking three days off than risk a lukewarm reception from a mixed crowd.

American sports fans are forgiving if those they once booed can make them cheer again. And A-Rod has done that in the Bronx. He went from cat-calls in the first few weeks of the season to curtain calls after hitting dramatic home runs for the team that did not want to pay him but has now agreed to give his bonuses to the charities of his choice.

Isn’t it ironic that we haven’t heard a peep from the beloved Yankee captain, Derek Jeter, since he retired? And that left-side infield combination that were once oil and water is now left with whatever praise baseball fans can muster for the man they once called A-Fraud in his own locker room.

He is still not a likable character, but let’s give credit where it’s due.

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