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Tommy Lasorda Rips A-Rod: 'He's Trying To Ruin The Game'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Baseball icon Tommy Lasorda says Alex Rodriguez deserved a harsher punishment for his alleged involvement with Biogenesis and performance-enhancing drugs.

"What he's done, he's trying to ruin the game," the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager said Tuesday at the annual Baseball Assistance Team fundraising dinner in Manhattan, according to the New York Daily News. "You can't do that. He's going to keep on trying to do something, but he's got a suspension. He should just sit back and fill it out."

Rodriguez, who was originally banned 211 games on Aug. 5, filed suit against MLB and his own players union after arbitrator Fredric Horowitz reduced his suspension to 162 games plus the 2014 postseason.

Some players were so angry that they reportedly discussed kicking the Yankees third baseman out of the MLBPA during a conference call last week, only to be told it wasn't possible.

"Would you have your son get A-Rod's autograph?" Lasorda told reporters. "Would you like to have that?"

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Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs during his time with the Texas Rangers (2001-03). He has denied using them since.

"I'm telling you I don't like cheaters. They don't belong in the game," said Lasorda, who added that A-Rod "should have gotten more" than the season-long ban.

Ex-Met Rusty Staub was just as rough on A-Rod, saying "the thing he did with the players association was pathetic."

Staub said he assumed many other former players would feel the same way.

"That's my opinion," Staub said. "I'm not going to get into all that. I told you what I felt."

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