New York Yankees

A-Rod dissed by former teammate: 'Cheats don't belong in the Hall'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:07 p.m. ET

Lindsey Foltin

Alex Rodriguez is set to play in his final game with the New York Yankees on Friday, putting an end to his 22-year MLB career. And while his stats should make him a lock for the Baseball Hall of Fame, his career has been tarnished by his involvement in the biggest PED scandal in the history of the game.

So, does someone widely labeled as a "cheater," "liar" and a "fraud" deserve to be forever enshrined in Cooperstown with baseball's highest honor?

According to one of A-Rod's former teammates, the answer is simple.

"No..." tweeted Kenny Lofton in response to a Twitter poll asking if Rodriguez belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Lofton, who played with Rodriguez on the 2004 Yankees, gave a strong take on the matter:

He followed up by retweeting a fan who said "He cheated guys like you who did it right and deserve to be in the hall of fame."

Lofton appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2012, but received only 3.2 percent of the vote, falling short of the 5 percent required to remain on the ballot. Certainly one of the best leadoff hitters of his era, Lofton feels that he was kept out of Cooperstown because he had to play against players who were using PEDS -- like Rodriguez.

"I hate to see (the HOF voters) pump up the guys who were juicing," Lofton said in an interview with TMZ. "You can't put a cheater in. Once you put one in, you got to put them all in ... then the whole Hall of Fame is tainted."

Lofton, who is adamant that he played his entire career "clean," said he hopes his HOF case is eventually revisited by the veteran's committee.

While Lofton and Rodriguez only played together for one season, they were both part of the '04 postseason run in which the Yankees won the AL East, but lost to the wild-card winning Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. After leading the series 3-0, the Yankees lost the remaining four games, becoming the first team to ever lose a seven game postseason series after being up three games to none.