The yawn of a new era.(BASEBALL)

Say Alex Rodriguez hits 800 home runs.

I doubt he would receive the adulation Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa did during their home run race in 1998. Such records no longer will inspire unabashed reverence, even if they are set by a player as untainted as Rodriguez.

This is the legacy of the Steroids Era, and the indifference toward Barry Bonds' pursuit of Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list is a sign of things to come.

The euphoria that stemmed from Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record in 1995 never will be duplicated.

Fans, media and baseball people have grown understandably more skeptical after being exposed as naive, ignorant and plain blind.

Perhaps the reaction to Bonds isn't a fair gauge of the future; his reported steroids use and distasteful personality leave him with little support outside of the Bay area.

But the greater issue is trust.

Major League Baseball has implemented the harshest penalties for steroids use in professional sports, but only a fool would proclaim the sport is clean. In every sport, the cheaters develop new ways to stay ahead of the testers.

Investing emotionally in any future baseball accomplishment will require, at some level, a suspension of disbelief. And though baseball is reaching new levels of popularity by virtually…