Alex Rodriguez's steroid use disappointing for fans.

THE number of professional baseball players connected to steroids is bulking up like toxic hitting records. The latest player to be busted stirs emotions of sadness and righteous indignation in Mariners fans.

Sports Illustrated reported that former Mariner Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003. Too bad for fans, the game and Rodriguez. The positive result came from a 2003 survey test done by Major League Baseball in which 104 players tested positive. Only Rodriguez's name has been revealed.

On Monday in an ESPN interview, Rodriguez copped to using steroids while with the Texas Rangers. He said the pressure to prove he was worth the Texas-sized $252 million contract forced him to use steroids.

Nice try, A-Rod. Every job has pressure. Cheating is not the right way to prove your worth.

Rodriguez, a tabloid regular since being traded to the New York Yankees after the 2003 season, has nobody to blame but himself. Not the reporter who broke the story, not the culture of steroid abuse that has tainted a generation of baseball players, and not the ridiculously large contract he received for jumping the good ship Mariner for the Rangers.

What makes Rodriguez's actions so sad is that he did not need steroids to be one of the best players ever. His accomplishments will forever be viewed with skepticism, like the other false heroes of the steroid era. Instead of being compared to Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth, Rodriguez is now relegated to the drug-laced group of could-have-beens and cheats.

MLB can begin to restore a smidgen of confidence by releasing the other 103 names. Until that happens, there will be a cloud of suspicion over every player.