Hillary Clinton could learn a lot from Alex Rodriguez.

You heard me.

While the woman who would be President keeps a stiff upper lip, disdaining the questions of exasperated and stewing reporters, the disgraced, steroid-taking New York Yankee designated hitter is slowly winning back the tolerance – if not, trust – of a disappointed public that had largely given him up, if not dead, at least “over.”

How has A-Rod managed to climb his way back to public acceptability from such a low perch and loathsome reputation?

Here’s the simple formula he’s used.

First, he’s shunned the spotlight.

When we last left poor Alex before the season opened, he was regularly popping up in the press to remind us that he intended to collect on the $80 million the Yankees owed him on his contract, whether they – or we – liked it or not.

Heeding counsel from high-profile attorneys and public relations advisors more interested in their own self-promotion,

Rodriguez first dared baseball to find any proof that he took steroids and then, when proof was clear, he “hand wrote” a goopy letter of apology to the fans.

Simply pathetic.

But today, despite performing well as Yankee DH and passing Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list, ARod avoids the spotlight, limiting his pronouncements to platitudes and speaking only when spoken to.

Second, he’s exhibited humility.

Despite the baseball milestones that Rodriguez is passing, the new Alex is humble to a fault.

When he beat Mays’ record, Rodriguez talked about the thrill to be mentioned in the same breath with the Giant great. Said Alex, humbly, “There's only one Willie Mays. Not only what he did on the field but what he meant off the field. He's a legend and he's also a role model for all of us.”

When Rodriguez was called out by Yankee fans for a curtain call to celebrate the feat, A-Rod responded, “I certainly thought the days of curtain calls for me were long gone. I was a little embarrassed and it was a little awkward. I didn't want the game to stop.”

A far cry from the old days, when Rodriguez would tell fans how hard he was working to optimize his “natural gifts.” For that matter, it was also a far cry from a certain Presidential candidate who insisted that her disappearing emails when found will reveal “how hard we worked and the work we did for our country during the time that I was secretary of state, where I worked extremely hard on behalf of our values, and our interests and our security.”

Third, he’s avoided controversy.

While controversy hasn’t avoided A-Rod, he’s gone to great lengths to avoid it.

The Yankees adamantly announced that because of the steroids controversy, they wouldn’t honor a clause in Rodriguez contact that calls for a $6 million bonus when he matched Mays’ record.

When reporters pressed the player for his reaction to the Yankees’ failure to pay, he demurred. Responded the new pinstriped diplomat, “That's not where my mind is right now. I'm really just trying to enjoy this moment.”

Smart. Just shaddup about the inevitable lawsuits to follow.

Fourth, he’s eternally grateful.

Whoever is feeding Alex Rodriguez his lines now is finally the pitch perfect public relations adviser.

When Rodriguez tied the Mays record, he used the occasion to express his gratitude to the people he owed the most.

'I can tell you this (I wish I could) thank every fan personally for not only the way they've treated me all tonight, but for the way they've treated me all season.'

Exactly.

The fans are the ones, after all, who Rodriguez owes for the $253 million he will earn from his contract. He—and anyone else – who makes millions of dollars a year – are, at base, extraordinarily lucky.

And no one – no one – wants to hear them whine about how tough they’ve had it or how poor they were or, for that matter, how “dead broke we were when we came out of the White House.”

Alex Rodriguez, apparently, at long last has learned that lesson. And he is beginning, despite all odds, to win back public trust.