Manny Ramirez’s recent failed drug test was just another black-eye for baseball, a sport that can’t seem to distance itself from the performance-enhancing drug scandal.

The interesting thing about Manny Ramirez is that he has a reputation for being among the hardest workers in baseball. Teammates tell stories about how Manny is among the first in the weight room. If he’s indeed the greatest right-handed hitter of our generation, why did Manny need to take a banned substance? I’m told the substance he took helps players recover faster, which no doubt is a big advantage to players in the their mid to late 30’s. But is it worth losing more than $7 million in salary and having your legacy tarnished forever?

One of the main attributes that makes baseball so special is its ties to the past. In no other sport do people compare the present and past like they do with baseball. So how can this era  of the power hitter and unprecedented home runs ever be compared to the past? It can’t. It will be interesting to see how people look at this era 50 years from now. I have a feeling they won’t look at it very favorably.

My guess is that many of this era’s “greats” like Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez and Roger Clemens won’t get elected to the Hall of Fame, at least not on the first ballot and likely not for a number of years after if at all. If you had an isolated incident with one or two players, that would be one thing. But when you have many of the elite players either testing positive or being linked to performance enhancing drugs, there’s no way to look past it. Also, because the most hallowed record in sports – the all-time home run record – has fallen to a person suspected of taking a banned substance (Barry Bonds) and may very well fall to another person who’s already admitted taking steroids (A-Rod), many baseball fans believe the game has been tarnished forever.

Can you really mention Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds in the same sentence? I know it doesn’t sound right to me. I expect that history will view this era almost as a separate part of baseball history. There’s just no way you can compare the great players of today with those of the past. It’s not an even playing field.

I used to love to discuss the most intimidating pitchers of all-time – Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale among them.  I was a huge fan of Clemens. He was one of the few baseball players I would pay to watch. I loved his intensity, fiery demeanor and how he instilled fear in batters. But ever since his steroids controversy, he no longer belongs in the same discussion.

I know many people talk about putting an asterisk next to the records that have been broken during this era. That’s not going to happen. But by denying those who cheated access to the hallowed grounds of Coopertown, that will in some small way show even more respect to the greats  of the past who played the game the right way.

Jonathan Wexler is the booking agent for PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency