"NAILS" Indeed

Lenny Dykstra has always fascinated me. He's long been a study in "Never Should, But Amazingly Did" throughout his Major League Baseball career, all the while doing so with a certain assholish charm and a giant ball of tobacco in his cheek. From his walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 1986 NLCS, his flirtation with hitting .400 in 1990, his drunk driving accident that nearly killed him, to his unbelievable 1993 season on one of my favorite baseball teams I've ever watched in my lifetime - the 1993 Phillies. After his retirement from baseball he went on to an even more unlikely success story as a financial wizard (you can see how big-time he got if you click on this link for a fake movie trailer describing it). His rise was so meteoric, it was captured by Real Sports in February of 2008, as well as received Jim Cramer's endorsement for his show Mad Money and his website thestreet.com. He also managed to buy Wayne Gretzky's old house in L.A. worth $17 million at the time as well as fly around in a private jet, and perpetuate the seemingly authentic American Success Story. All of it was indeed too good to be true however. Since that 2008 piece, I'm not sure whether it's more accurate to say that his empire "crumbled" or was nothing but smoke and mirrors in the first place? If you want further details you can read this article from our friends at The Daily Beast and make up your own mind. The article which is an excerpt from a forthcoming book, outlines not only how far Dykstra has fallen, but also details how big of a scumbag he really was to people he owed money to.

The piece that really got my attention though was the other excerpt from the same book detailing Dykstra's Admitted Steroid Use. Lenny has long denied multiple claims - including a mention in the Mitchell Report - that he used steroids in his career. In the excerpt however, he not only fesses up, but described him as a pioneer as one of the first players to use steroids in the game along with Canseco. In terms of the Eye-Test, you can look at the pictures above and see for yourself. Statistically though, the one season that really jumps out is his famous 1993 campaign (Lead the league with 773 Plate Appearances, 143 Runs Scored, 194 Hits, 129 Walks, and hit a career high 19 dingers) where he finished SECOND to Barry Bonds in the MVP vote at the age of 30 (ironic that a then clean Barry Bonds beat a juiced up Lenny Dykstra). Almost immediately after that Dykstra's body broke down, and he was out of the game by 1997.

While Dykstra himself remains a fascinating individual for a multitude of different negative reasons, the main thing I'll walk away with after reading this story, is that Dykstra is yet another example that baseball players that played during the Steroid Era should NOT be given the benefit of the doubt when faced with accusations. Those accusations almost always end up being proven true, and it's only a matter of time before Lenny confirms this publicly.

It's like sex with Kobe Bryant...you can kick and scream all you want Lenny, but it's GONNA happen...