From Baseball To Bankruptcy

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Never trust a guy who thinks reading books will make you go blind. I’m not kidding, Lenny Dykstra told one of his teammates that after seeing him reading a book. Dykstra should have read a book on life because he went from baseball to bankruptcy. Oh, he was also involved in drugs too. 

Leonard Kyle Dykstra was born on February 10, 1963. Ugh, of course we would have the same birthday and he is also left handed like myself, I wouldn’t expect anything less. Just for the record though, I read books and thoroughly enjoy doing so. Guys, that is all I could find out about this dude’s life before baseball, just his birthday. People don’t even like the guy enough to document his childhood and adolescent years.  

The New York Mets selected Lenny Dykstra in the 13^th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. He was a star in the minor leagues and in 1985 the Mets promoted him to the big leagues after starting center fielder, Mookie Wilson, was placed on the teams disabled list. The next season Dykstra and Wilson were going to share the center field position. But after Wilson suffered a severe eye injury during spring training Lenny Dykstra solely took over the starting spot. When Wilson returned, he was shifted to left field after the Mets released George Foster (who obviously played left field before Wilson took over).

Fans quickly started calling Dykstra “Nails” because of his fearless playing and stone-cold personality. Lenny Dykstra and teammate Wally Backman became known as “The Partners in Grime” due their scrappy play tactics. Dykstra even posed for a “beefcake” poster under the name “Nails”. Despite his star talent the Mets could no longer handle Dykstra’s “unpredictable wild and crazy personality”. In 1989 he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with three other players to obtain second baseman, Juan Samuel. Dykstra was initially upset about the trade but learned to enjoy his new home after realizing that Phillies fans loved him and his signature cheek full of tabacco (is that what is in his mouth in the cover photo? Looks gross dude).

Lenny Dykstra’s run with the Phillies was marred with injuries and legal trouble. It was a very turbulent time is his career with both highs and lows. In 1991 while driving drunk around Pennsylvania (DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE KIDS!) Dykstra crashed his car into a tree and suffered a broken cheek bone, broken ribs, as well as a fractured collarbone. His teammate Darren Daulton who was a passenger in the car was also injured. I’m not sure what happened to him but neither men’s injuries were life threatening. Dykstra sat out for two months and once he got back in action, he hurt himself all over again. In late August 1991 during a game between the Phillies and the Reds Lenny Dykstra re-broke his collarbone after running into the outfield wall. How fast was this running? Holy shit dude! He would end up missing the rest of the season. 

On opening day in 1992 Dykstra was hit by a pitch that broke his hand. Between 1991 and 1992 he played just 145 out a possible 324 games with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1993 Lenny Dykstra and the Phillies made it to the World Series finals but ultimately lost to the Baltimore Orioles. The rest of Dykstra’s baseball career was marred by injuries and in 1996 at the age of 35, Lenny Dykstra retired from the sport.  After his baseball career Dykstra ran a car wash. In 1997 Dykstra was arrested for sexual harrasment of a 17 year old female employee. The criminal charges were later dropped. In 2005 his fomer business partner, Lindsey Jones sued Dykstra stating that he used steroids and would tell her bet on Phillies games during the 1993 season. Lenny Dykstra denied all allegations even though it later came out that he most likely did use steroids much like other baseball players of the time. He sold his car wash in 2007, guys this is the start of a shit show. After selling the car wash Dykstra managed a stock portfolio and served as president of several privately held companies. I don’t think this business venture lasted long because he was probably doing some shady shit business wise.  

In 2008 Lenny Dykstra started a high-end jet charter and a magazine marketed to professional athletes named “The Player’s Club, LLC”. The magazine was something that athletes could read and get information on how to manage their finances. By 2009 Dykstra’s business was caught in a downward spiral, is anybody surprised? An article was written in “GQ Magazine” by Kevin P. Coughlin a former photo editor for “The New York Post”. Now Coughlin had previously been employed by Dykstra and worked on “The Player’s Club” for 67 days. His article spilled the beans on what went down during his short employment. Coughlin would accuse Dykstra of credit card fraud, using bounced checks to pay rent for his leased office space. Coughlin had information to back up all of his accusations. 

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This is where things get really crazy Dykstra purchased probably the best hockey player to ever step foot on this earth Mr. Wayne Gretzky’s house for $17,000,000 in September 2009. His goal was to flip the home and turn a profit. He can’t be serious, there aren’t many people who could afford a home like that. Needless to say, his plan failed and at one-point Dykstra owed over $13,000,000 on the home. Oh wait, there is more! Eventually authorities were told to keep Lenny Dykstra away from the house after he stripped of over $51,000 of items. My dudes this man took; countertops, an oven, and hardwood flooring. HE GOT ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES AND STOLE THE HARDWOOD FLOOR! Just picture it. In January the house sold for an “undisclosed amount”. The second owner of this home, Jeff Smith (Just an everyday guy) listed the house for $10,000,000 and sold it without any issues.  

In March 2009 press reports alleged that Dykstra had used offensive terms when speaking about women, black people, and homosexuals in his place of business. What a disgusting pig. In April 2009 ESPN released an article about Lenny Dykstra that claimed he has been the subject of at least two dozen law suits since 2007. Lenny Dykstra would often brag about carrying at least $2,000 worth of cash on him at all times. But in December 2010 he was accused of hiring a female escort and paying her $1,000 using a bad check. Why didn’t get just pay her in cash if he is rolling in it!? In January 2011 Dykstra was accused of sexual harassment by his house keeper who claimed that he would force her give him oral sex every Saturday afternoon. The house keeper told investigators that, “she needed the job and the money, so she went along with the suspect’s requests rather than lose her job.”  

On April 14, 2011 Lenny Dykstra was arrested and charged with bankruptcy fraud. He was also arrested on separate charges of grand theft related to vehicles he had purchased. and was held on $500,000 bail. I’m not done yet guys, this asshat is a real winner. In June 6, 2011 Dykstra was arrested and charged with 25 misdemeanor and felony counts of grand theft auto, identity theft, filing false financial states, and possession of cocaine, ecstasy, and Somatropin (a type of HGH). He first filed a plea of not guilty before changing his mind and pleading no contest. He pled no contest on the grand theft auto charges, false financial statements, and identity theft charges with hopes of having all the drug charges dropped. It did not work and in March 15, 2012 Dykstra was sentenced to 3 years in prison. He received a one-year credit on his sentence for time already served. According to court records and press reports, Dykstra and co-conspirators had obtained automobiles from various car dealerships using falsified bank statements and stolen identities. In my opinion he should have gotten more than a measly 3-year sentence. 

Now he has got to be done acting up, right? Surely, he learned his lesson this time…. WRONG! On August 25, 2011 good ol’ Lenny was arrested and charged with indecent exposure. Authorities stated that Dykstra would go on Craigslist (you know this is shady, all the shady shit goes down on Craigslist) and place ads for personal assistant or housekeeping services. The women that responded to the ad would be told that the job also required personal massage services before dropping his robe. This went down once they showed up to Dykstra’s house. So, was he like you have to scrub my toilet and massage my jang jang too? DIRTY BASTARD! Dykstra was given a 9-month sentence for lewd conduct. Lenny Dykstra was released from prison after serving just 6 and a half months of his 3-year sentence for the bankruptcy fraud and money laundering charges, which ran concurrently with the grand theft auto and false financial statements charges. What the shit!? That is pretty much no time at all! As part of his release, he was given 3 years of probation, 500 hours of community service, enrolled into a substance abuse program, submit to random drug testing, and pay $200,000 to his creditors. 

On May 23, 2018, Dykstra was arrested after uttering terroristic threats and for possession of drugs. He allegedly held a gun to his Uber driver after the driver refused to change destinations. On October 10, 2018 Dykstra was indicted by a New Jersey grand jury for cocaine and methamphetamine possession, and making terroristic threats. Lenny Dykstra now lives with his ex-wife, Terri, who claims that has no plans to remarry him but will remain by his side for support. That’s a nice lady, that is also a stupid lady. 

I’m not even sure how to end this article. I mean this whole thing was just one huge flaming pile of shit. Remember kids, don’t do drugs and reading books will not make you go blind. 

Sources:

“The Rise And Fall Of Lenny Dykstra” – Newsday

“Lenny Dykstra” – Crime Museum