A-Rod to Hall? Poll says ...

More than half of baseball fans surveyed say Alex Rodriguez shouldn't make the Hall of Fame after admitting that he used steroids.

And as for the game's hallowed records? Those same fans seem to care less and less anyway.

An Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday also showed this: Fans are losing interest in the whole steroids issue.

With 553 home runs, Rodriguez is considered likely to break Barry Bonds' career record of 762. Five of the top 12 home run hitters in history - Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Rodriguez - have been tainted by allegations of steroid use.

According to the poll, 62 percent of baseball fans now take the game's records less seriously for that reason. But what about their marks?

"You can't take the numbers away from the guys," Texas slugger Josh Hamilton, suspended from baseball multiple times for illegal drug use, said Wednesday.

"Did it make them feel better? Absolutely. But you've still got to hit the ball, you've got to throw the ball and you've got to catch the ball. I'm not defending them, but they've still got to swing the bat," he said.

As for Rodriguez, 52 percent said he shouldn't be allowed into the Hall when he becomes eligible, five years after his final game. In an AP-AOL Sports poll in April 2006, 61 percent of fans said Bonds shouldn't go into the Hall.

Instructor Maddux reports: Greg Maddux knew it was time to quit pitching. He just wasn't ready to quit baseball altogether.

The four-time Cy Young Award winner rejoined the San Diego Padres on Wednesday as a spring training instructor. He pitched for the Padres from 2007 until he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August.

Though his position is only temporary, Maddux hopes it will lead to a permanent coaching job. Maddux, who is eighth all-time with 355 career wins, retired in December after 23 big league seasons.

"I love baseball," said Maddux, who was 355-227 with a 3.16 ERA in a career with the Padres, Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Cubs.

Shea Stadium meets its end: Shea Stadium, the circular modern stadium in New York that hosted two World Series title winners but was criticized for its lack of charm and amenities, met its end Wednesday. It was 44.

The last remaining part of the ballpark, the Section 5 ramp, was knocked down at 11:25 a.m., New York Mets spokesman Ethan Wilson said.

Prospect faked age, name: A top baseball prospect from the Dominican Republic who received a $1.4 million signing bonus from the Washington Nationals lied about his age and name in what team president Stan Kasten called "an elaborate scheme."

"This was a deliberate, premeditated fraud" that involved bribes, along with falsified hospital and school records, Kasten said Wednesday.

In July 2006, the Nationals signed a 16-year-old shortstop named Esmailyn "Smiley" Gonzalez and held a news conference at which general manager Jim Bowden compared the player to Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. Still known as Gonzalez, he wound up leading the rookie-level Gulf Coast League with a .343 batting average in 2008.

But while the Nationals have been listing his date of birth as Sept. 21, 1989 - which would make him 19 now - Kasten said Wednesday that a Major League Baseball investigation determined Gonzalez is actually Carlos David Alvarez Lugo, born in November 1985 - meaning he is really 23.

Around the horn: The Atlanta Braves agreed on a $2.825 million, one-year contract with second baseman Kelly Johnson, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing.

- Right-handed reliever Luis Ayala and the Minnesota Twins have agreed to a one-year contract.

- Outfielder Josh Willingham and the Washington Nationals agreed to a $2.95 million contract for 2009, avoiding an arbitration hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

- Utilityman Willy Aybar and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a $2.6 million, two-year contract Wednesday, avoiding arbitration.

- Placido Polanco will not play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The Detroit Tigers second baseman confirmed his decision, saying he told team officials in December he wouldn't participate.