The new Us Weekly reports that Kate Hudson has been trying to make New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez less of an egomaniac.

It must not be easy.

A former Rodriguez fling remembers seeing portraits of the slugger, 34, as a centaur hanging over his bed.

“He was so vain,” his ex tells Us Weekly. “He had not one, but two painted portraits of himself as a centaur. You know, the half man, half horse figure?”

Adds the ex, “It was ridiculous.”

Us Weekly also reports that Hudson, 30 — who has been front and center at his baseball games since they began dating this past spring — has been bragging to pals about what a good lover Rodriguez is.

“They love sex!” a pal tells Us Weekly of the pair who began dating in May. “They talk about it all day. Kate gets graphic talking about his body, even to her parents.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin