Lenny Dykstra proudly claims he blackmailed umpires
Source: New York Post
Lenny Dykstra says his prodigious walk totals didnt come from a great eye, but hiring great private eyes.
The former Met told Foxs Colin Cowherd that in his effort to get a huge contract he spent $500,000 to hire private investigators to turn up dirt on Major League Baseball umpires, and then used that intel to coerce them into giving him a favorable strike zone.
I said I need the umpires, [so] what do I do? I just pulled out half a million bucks and hired a private investigate team to follow them, said Dykstra, who won the 1986 World Series with the Mets.
Their blood is just a red as ours. Some of them like women, some of them like men, some of them gamble, some of them do whatever.
October 27, 2015 | 4:36pm
Read more: http://nypost.com/2015/10/27/lenny-dykstra-proudly-announces-he-blackmailed-umpires/
Well what do you know???? How can anyone make this stuff up???
news...stranger than fiction
DJ13
(23,671 posts)This is huge news. Had to make sure it was not Onion. Rose not that much a big deal. Afterall, he bet on his team to Win.
mpcamb
(2,855 posts)Still, an extraordinary admission!
mpcamb
(2,855 posts)Still, an extraordinary admission!
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Same moral league, but pettier.
My bet is that Dykstra's fabulating the hell out of this story, however.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Also it's sorely obvious that nfl refs are throwing games.
C Moon
(12,188 posts)ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Go watch the story HBO's Real Sports did on him about six or seven years ago.
mac56
(17,561 posts)Steroids?
hibbing
(10,076 posts)My first thought when I saw this.
Peace
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)Bill James quoted a contemporary player to the effect that the outfield was like a "Toxic waste dump" after Dykstra had been in the field.
-- Mal
George II
(67,782 posts)....when he was a player I really liked him, afterward....not so much.
An anecdote from about 25 years ago, I think it was the year after they won the World Series.
A group I belonged to made a trip to Philadelphia (I was living in NYC at the time) for a weekend series with the Phillies. I hate buses, so I drove down instead.
Anyway, in the Sunday game the Mets were losing a close game in the 9th inning. Dykstra either walked or singled and was on first base. Strangely the manager took him out for a pinch runner (Dykstra was one of their best base runners) We all thought it very odd.
When I got out to my car after the game I put on the radio. It turns out that halfway through the game he'd been traded to Philadelphia for Juan Samuel.
underpants
(182,274 posts)from back then.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)I liked Howard Johnson, though.
Cokeheads and Jesus freaks on that whole team.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)onlyadream
(2,159 posts)I knew a girl who followed him in a hotel and ended up in his bed. He was married, so I lost respect for him. This was back in the late 80s.
George II
(67,782 posts).....with the Phillies' catcher (forget his name). He seemed to have gotten into a lot of trouble since then.
StevieM
(10,499 posts)got into that accident.
Yupster
(14,308 posts)Dykstra was such a better player than Samuel, but maybe club house issues made the trade necessary.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)But that is typical with players from New York teams.
houston16revival
(953 posts)Lenny would drive them crazy if they didn't
Demoiselle
(6,787 posts)Now THAT'S stuff you can't make up!
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Calista241
(5,584 posts)His radio show was broadcast both on the radio, and on ESPN2 every day until fairly recently.
He's right up there with Mike and Mike in terms of sports credibility.
StevieM
(10,499 posts)eom
Calista241
(5,584 posts)How much "credibility" are you looking for from entertainers?
StevieM
(10,499 posts)Dykstra is a remarkably unethical man. He has a long laundry list of....well, everything.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Dykstra#Personal_life
Mendocino
(7,430 posts)would claim Jesus sold meth to JFK if it increased circulation. Dykstra has even less credibility.
StevieM
(10,499 posts)Mendocino
(7,430 posts)or Dykstra has any credibility. LD would say anything to promote/vindicate himself.
StevieM
(10,499 posts)Near as I can tell, the man is a sociopath.
But that doesn't mean that he is making this up. For whatever the reason, he may have just felt like admitting to this. Maybe he thinks it is funny to look back at.
This story doesn't vindicate him....although it certainly does promote him, in a weird kind of way.
The Post's credibility is irrelevant here, because several other outlets have also published the story. And the NY Post did not break the story.
What makes me believe the story is the way his walks per plate appearances jumped in 1993 and 1994 compared to what it had been in 1992.
http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/27/lenny-dykstra-private-investigators-hired-spy-umpires
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)One wonders where the 19 homers came from, but he had a LOT of PA that year (I guess he was hitting leadoff then, I don't remember).
But his OBPs were on the high side most years, except for a slump in 88-89 (which may have led to his being traded). The secular trend was definitely upward, though, after 1990.
-- Mal
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)He used his deep state connections to set it up.
I like how baseball stats can have "secular trends" by the way.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)It's not a confession, it's self-promotion for the kicks. Here we are talking about this guy and what a bad boy he is. The story is ridiculous.
WhoWoodaKnew
(847 posts)If he did it there should be an investigation and they need to do whatever they can to prevent it. It just pisses me off that a baseball player would hire PIs, bribe, cheat and then announce it right before I'm getting ready to sit down and watch something I like.
Loser.
StevieM
(10,499 posts)rurallib
(62,344 posts)he's white, male, has been rich, well known name, lies in preference to truth any day, cares for no one but himself - he's the whole package.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Dykstra's having himself some fun.
FSogol
(45,357 posts)JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)It's a hilariously stupid story.
I love how people are all in a moral huff about it upthread. It's worse than Pete Rose and Hitler, I tell ya!
The Post can get back to us if he names any living person to whom he claims to have done this blackmailing. Statute of limitations means he's secure, so have at'em, Lenny! Tell us more!
The crime here is systemic: a culture and society that once allowed this guy to style himself as a financial adviser talking shit on CNBC. He was making millions doing it!
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)ProfessorGAC
(64,419 posts)How could it pass the smell test? COnsider the source from which it emanates.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Just read the nonsense he says. Totally implausible.