The crash and burn of Lenny Dykstra
 

Today former baseball player Lenny Dykstra was sentenced to 3 years in prison on grand theft auto charges.

It wasn't more than a few years ago that Dykstra was believed to be a financial genius who had amassed a good sized fortune through various investments. Then it seemed like many of the people he had done business with started suing him, he reportedly had a drug problem and his shady dealings ended up costing him everything.

He may have more jail ahead of him too. He filed bankruptcy claiming he had $31 million in debts and only $50,000 in assets, then got caught selling $400,000 worth or stuff from a mansion without the permission of the court.

It looks like he was good at making money in stocks, but then got into real estate and other ventures and lost a lot in that. It reminds me of the Bill Gates quote. "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose."

That reminds me of the online adult industry...

:2 cents:

well i guess monica foster is happy

LOL for sure. Who writes a check to an escort? And then lets it bounce!! Especially if you are famous. LOL

For sure. I bet there are a lot of adult webmasters who made good money doing this then tried to branch out and lost a ton.

Isn't that how Jerry Springer went down when he was Mayor of Cincinnati?

Before the Florida (now Miami) Marlins were born I was a huge Mets fan, and that '86 team was my favorite. I was even at Game 1 of the '86 World Series at Shea, which the Mets lost 1-0 on a Tim Teufel error. Anyways if I'm not mistaken Dykstra was never actually any good at picking stocks, and all his money came from a chain of car washes that he opened after his playing days that did really well. I think Dykstra sold the car washes and tried his hand at the stock market, and his buddy Jim Cramer even tried to push him as some sort of stock guru, but it was all bullshit. In the end Nails turned out to just be a scam artist of the highest magnitude. What a fucking mess most of that '86 team turned out to be... :(

If you haven't read it check out a book called The Bad Guys Won By Jeff Pearlman. It is a kick ass book about the 86 Mets and all the boozing, brawling and craziness that went on as they played out that season and won the world series.

I think you are right about Springer too. I remember reading about that somewhere.

As for Dykstra, I think you are right about that. I read a huge article on him a few years back when he was just starting to put together his stock stuff. He made a bunch of money from car washes and also bought Wayne Gretzky's mansion which he intended to update and resell at a huge profit. He was also running a magazine about investing and living the affluent life that he gave to pro athletes. As far as I know he was never great at picking stocks, but he was good at bullshitting people and making them believe he was going to make them a bunch of money. It seems like he has gotten sued by just about anyone who ever was in business with him and it looks like a lot of his wealth was just cooked books and faked reports. Like you say, a scam artist.

I read that book and fucking loved it. I still laugh when I think about Dykstra blasting people with farts on the golf course. I don't know if MLB will ever see a team like the '86 Mets again, damn near every player was a larger than life personality. It's a fucking shame that so many of them fell apart, and even the one player that had his shit together, Gary Carter, just passed away the other day from brain cancer. I was also a Wally Backman fan and he was supposed to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks until they uncovered his mess of a financial and personal life, if I'm not mistaken they even announced his hiring and had to rescind it a day later when the stories started coming out. I'll always love baseball, but I'll never be a fan again like I was in '86...

I always thought Dykstra was a dick. Then again I was huge Red's fan.

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These days the athletes are so guarded because of endorsements and marketing that they all sound the same. The personalities seem to have dried up in baseball. You have a few guys here and there that are colorful, but most of them sound like they all attended the same class on how to speak to the public and that is all they say.

The 86 Mets were a glorious mess of misfits that were fun to watch. It is too bad so many of them crashed and burned. Like you, I have a feeling we will never see another team like that again.

I think Backman would have been a good manager. At least it would have put some life and energy into a team that nobody talks about even when they are winning.

Dykstra did play with 2 of my favorite players of the time John Kruk and Philly catcher Dalton. Those guys were the partying characters of their time.

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HOLY FUCK!!! Lenny omfg, i remember this guy from the baseball cards and RBI Baseball game from Nintendo

Just a bit of reading and.... he's had a ton of problems this guy.

My all time favorite Kruk moment was at the all star game when Randy Johnson threw a fastball that sailed over his head. So he spun around to hit from the other side of the plate and even put his helmet on backwards so the ear cover was on the correct side.

Yeah, it seems like lawsuits have followed him everywhere he goes. Sounds like he had some drug issues as well

haha, I saw that.

failed because of drugs, bad investments or combined? probably both.

You got that wrong. That was Larry Walker

Walker was so scared of Johnsons wildness he refused to bat against him earlier in the year

Nope, that was John Kruk. Positive.

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Dayum that sucks to watch a guy go down in flames. Especially when you've cheered him on way back when.

Shit is fucking real out there! Hope he doesnt commit suicide :Oh crap

you guys are going to make me go look it up.. :)

kruk one https://youtube.com/watch?v=EnOFDWWsXfs

cant find Walker video

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1...her-david-cone

I watched enough of Johnson's pitches to trust what happened with Walker and probably another 100 batters. But the all-star game incident with Kruk stands out.

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No doubt it stood out. Just not exactly like you remember it is all

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh I never saw the photo of Walker until just now. You're right Kruk kept taking his helmet off but walker wore it backward ........ Man, I use to love baseball.

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LOL so it looks like I merged my Kruk and Larry Walker moments LOL. Thanks for the clarification. Personally I would have wanted suit of armor to step in against Johnson :)

I hear you. He was a pretty intimidating figure standing out on the mound.

Sometimes being wild can certainly help someones career. Look at Nolan Ryan. Dude led the league in wild pitches probably 6-7 times.

Had to look up the quote because I couldnt remember it

"(Nolan) Ryan's the only guy who puts fear in me. Not because he could get me out, but because he could kill me. You just hoped to mix in a walk so you could have a good night and go 0-for-3." - Reggie Jackson

I was actually at the last game Nolan Ryan pitched at. Some friends and I went up to Seattle just to see him pitch. It was the game he blew his elbow out in. He had announced that he was going to retire at the end of the year so we wanted to go see him. I never thought I would be seeing the last pitch he would ever throw.

The question is, who is the real life Kenny Powers, Nails or Jose Canseco?

Now this is a good question. Nails seems like an asshole where Conseco seems to have gotten some recent credibility when all his steroid claims turned out to be true. But, Conseco seems like he will do anything for cash while Nails seems to act like he is a god at everything.

I would have to give the edge to Nails. I can see Kenny Powers bouncing a check to an escort and making bad business deals. LOL

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ADG

Yeah, but Jose Canseco, at 46, is now a player/manager for the Yuma Scorpions; not exactly the Charros, but close.

lol I didn't know that. Last I heard of him he was on Howard Stern about to do a celebrity boxing match against . . . I think. . . Joey Buttafucco.

He fought Danny Bonaduce and Vai Sikahema, too. Oh, I was wrong, he actually is playing for a Mexican team: the Cancun Tigres.:1orglaugh. I guess the Yuma Scorpions got rid of him. His twitter feed is pretty funny:

yeah, was kruk, i recall that too.. they did have the same hairdo though ;)

Didn't Vai kick his ass even though he is a hell of a lot smaller than Jose?

My favorite Jose Canseco play was when a fly ball hit him in the head and bounced over the wall for a home run.

LOL I never saw that. That would be a classic moment.

What is crazy to me is that the guy made a ton of money as a player and he blew every dime of it.

Check this link it's hilarious.

http://www.yourdailymedia.com/video/watch/5082/

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ha ha he looks literally retarded.

Last time I caught wind of him, was at the AVN awards here in Las Vegas back in January, doing the Red Carpet! ;-)

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I guess you didnt finish reading where it was proved it was indeed Walker

LOL that is freaking awesome. I love how his teammate is even laughing at him.

nope, but didn't think the discussion would go on that long either ;)

if canseco wasn't using steroids during his stint with the blue jays than i am 7 feet tall and can fly... I went to a good 15-20 games that season, saw him in person and he was bigger than he EVER was, not to mention team mates with Roger Clemens who was later busted of the exact same thing...

two of my heroes at the time i should add. hehe

Wow! you watch that and see what he had and now that the truth comes out we know most of that was built on bullshit and even the stuff that wasn't ended up getting pissed away.

Crazy.