Today’s news about Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension from MLB, brings another dark cloud to the era of baseball that I have grown up in.

Since the Mitchell Report and news that A-Rod was dirty, there have been whispers about ManRam and whether he was truly a “pure hitter.” His lazy attitude in the field threw up the red flags but no one really imagined that it would be the truth. While it still might come to fruition that this was a one-time doctor assisted misstep, it also makes me wonder about this era and what it means moving forward.

In one camp, you can throw one fat asterisk next to all records set from the late 80’s to the present and saying that anyone playing in this era is open to question, whether they are a noted cheat like Big Mac or a noted clean blowhard like the Big Schill. It is a broad stroke of the brush, but it would eliminate the question on HOF voters as to whether or not a guy cheated and if it’s OK to leave a guy like Roger Clemens off of their ballot in five years from now.

The second is to only erase the cheaters from the record books. To purists this is the easiest route to take for the record book and go back to “clean” records. My problem is that you can’t just erase history. We all saw Bonds break Hammerin’ Hank’s record, that can’t be erased. MLB did not do enough to hold off this problem and now needs to find a way to fix it.

Drug testing is the first and right test, however the question is what happens with the records. Is it going to be left up to the HOF voters or will the league take a stand?

No matter what happens, I am still baffled by the fact that Jose Canseco has proven to be the most credible baseball player that I could think of right now.

Today’s news about Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension from MLB, brings another dark cloud to the era of baseball that I have grown up in.

Since the Mitchell Report and news that A-Rod was dirty, there have been whispers about ManRam and whether he was truly a “pure hitter.” His lazy attitude in the field threw up the red flags but no one really imagined that it would be the truth. While it still might come to fruition that this was a one-time doctor assisted misstep, it also makes me wonder about this era and what it means moving forward.

In one camp, you can throw one fat asterisk next to all records set from the late 80’s to the present and saying that anyone playing in this era is open to question, whether they are a noted cheat like Big Mac or a noted clean blowhard like the Big Schill. It is a broad stroke of the brush, but it would eliminate the question on HOF voters as to whether or not a guy cheated and if it’s OK to leave a guy like Roger Clemens off of their ballot in five years from now.

The second is to only erase the cheaters from the record books. To purists this is the easiest route to take for the record book and go back to “clean” records. My problem is that you can’t just erase history. We all saw Bonds break Hammerin’ Hank’s record, that can’t be erased. MLB did not do enough to hold off this problem and now needs to find a way to fix it.

Drug testing is the first and right test, however the question is what happens with the records. Is it going to be left up to the HOF voters or will the league take a stand?

No matter what happens, I am still baffled by the fact that Jose Canseco has proven to be the most credible baseball player that I could think of right now.

Today’s news about Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension from MLB, brings another dark cloud to the era of baseball that I have grown up in.

Since the Mitchell Report and news that A-Rod was dirty, there have been whispers about ManRam and whether he was truly a “pure hitter.” His lazy attitude in the field threw up the red flags but no one really imagined that it would be the truth. While it still might come to fruition that this was a one-time doctor assisted misstep, it also makes me wonder about this era and what it means moving forward.

In one camp, you can throw one fat asterisk next to all records set from the late 80’s to the present and saying that anyone playing in this era is open to question, whether they are a noted cheat like Big Mac or a noted clean blowhard like the Big Schill. It is a broad stroke of the brush, but it would eliminate the question on HOF voters as to whether or not a guy cheated and if it’s OK to leave a guy like Roger Clemens off of their ballot in five years from now.

The second is to only erase the cheaters from the record books. To purists this is the easiest route to take for the record book and go back to “clean” records. My problem is that you can’t just erase history. We all saw Bonds break Hammerin’ Hank’s record, that can’t be erased. MLB did not do enough to hold off this problem and now needs to find a way to fix it.

Drug testing is the first and right test, however the question is what happens with the records. Is it going to be left up to the HOF voters or will the league take a stand?

No matter what happens, I am still baffled by the fact that Jose Canseco has proven to be the most credible baseball player that I could think of right now.

Today’s news about Manny Ramirez’ 50-game suspension from MLB, brings another dark cloud to the era of baseball that I have grown up in.

Since the Mitchell Report and news that A-Rod was dirty, there have been whispers about ManRam and whether he was truly a “pure hitter.” His lazy attitude in the field threw up the red flags but no one really imagined that it would be the truth. While it still might come to fruition that this was a one-time doctor assisted misstep, it also makes me wonder about this era and what it means moving forward.

In one camp, you can throw one fat asterisk next to all records set from the late 80’s to the present and saying that anyone playing in this era is open to question, whether they are a noted cheat like Big Mac or a noted clean blowhard like the Big Schill. It is a broad stroke of the brush, but it would eliminate the question on HOF voters as to whether or not a guy cheated and if it’s OK to leave a guy like Roger Clemens off of their ballot in five years from now.

The second is to only erase the cheaters from the record books. To purists this is the easiest route to take for the record book and go back to “clean” records. My problem is that you can’t just erase history. We all saw Bonds break Hammerin’ Hank’s record, that can’t be erased. MLB did not do enough to hold off this problem and now needs to find a way to fix it.

Drug testing is the first and right test, however the question is what happens with the records. Is it going to be left up to the HOF voters or will the league take a stand?

No matter what happens, I am still baffled by the fact that Jose Canseco has proven to be the most credible baseball player that I could think of right now.