Lenny Dykstra says he blackmailed umps

Pilgrim

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yikes
 
 
 
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/lenny-dykstra-blackmail-umps-walks-plate-article-1.2413364?utm_content=buffere0ae2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTw
 
 
 
 
The former Mets and Phillies center fielder told Colin Cowherd on "The Herd" Tuesday that, for $500,000, he hired private investigators to follow umpires to gather dirt on them. Dykstra then used the information to make sure he received favorable calls at the plate.  "Their blood's just as red as ours," said Dykstra, who spent 12 years in the majors. "Some of them like women, some of them like men, some of them gamble, some of them do whatever." 
 
"It wasn't a coincidence, you think, that I led the league in walks the next few years, was it?" Dykstra said.
 
 
 

Lowrielicious

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Does he have a book deal or something coming out? or is fishing for one?
 
He is a serial scammer and has big money troubles. Without any outside evidence I don't see how you can give this any credibility at all.
 

Pilgrim

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E5 Yaz said:
He led the league in walks once ... in 1993
Wow, he never even came close.
 
The most unbelievable part of this story would be that Dykstra ever had 500 grand on hand, and actually paid someone.
 

Al Zarilla

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Pilgrim said:
Wow, he never even came close.
 
The most unbelievable part of this story would be that Dykstra ever had 500 grand on hand, and actually paid someone.
I assumed that amount over his career. Of course, with this guy, who knows what to ever believe from him.
 

E5 Yaz

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Pilgrim said:
The most unbelievable part of this story would be that Dykstra ever had 500 grand on hand, and actually paid someone.
 
The most unbelievable part of this story is that the NYDN is reporting something that Lenny Dykstra said on the Colin Cowherd radio show ... That's like three of Dante's circles right there
 

TheYaz67

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Not likely - in the first year he had that big OBP (.418 in 1990, his other real high one was .420 in 1993 - his only two "whole seasons" in his last 6 seasons played) he made a total of $700,000 (before taxes) according to B-Ref.  By 1993 he was only making $3M (again before taxes), so I am supposed to believe a guy with a gambling problem paid that kind of money (which was alot in the early 1990s) to private eyes to gather info on umpires?  And it wouldn't work if you just had dirt on a handful of them, any of which might turn you in and take their chances.
 
He's trying to take a pound of flesh out of MLB - make the game as "dirty" as he was, drag 'em down to your level, that kind of thing - sad and pathetic, but that's where he is in life at this point...
 

Rasputin

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The only thing that gives me pause here--other than the fact that Lenny Dykstra is repulsive and I could have gone my whole life without hearing his name again--is the fact that the whole steroid investigation era was kicked off by Jose Freaking Canseco.
 

DJnVa

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And Cowherd isn't smart enough to check the numbers and call him on this?
 

Lowrielicious

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DrewDawg said:
And Cowherd isn't smart enough to check the numbers and call him on this?
What motivation does he have for this?
 
It is the way of "journalism" these days. Why take the time and effort to actually investigate when the only payoff for that is a) you miss being first to report and b) you miss the story if you happen to find it is bullshit.
 
There is no c) you lose credibility/your job when it turns out you were wrong, so what's the risk. Just report whatever you're told and lap up the clicks, viewers, listeners etc.
 

terrisus

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jacklamabe65 said:
The 1986 World Series is now officially tainted.
 
This was my first thought on reading this as well.



Rough Carrigan said:
He has a second cousin who sounds retarded, too?
Andrew said:
His second cousin is also named Lenny Dykstra. He's way more into crazy though.
dbn said:
His second cousin is probably also his first cousin.
YTF said:
........and his brother.
Twist: All of these people are the same person.
Lenny Dykstra.
 

threecy

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Couperin47 said:
 
He was live in studio, and Colin was in no position to check at the moment
All he would need is a baseball card on the table to check that.

I suspect there is an element of truth in this somewhere though.
 
He did sign a 3 year, $7.3M contract after the 1990 season, according to the AP at the time.
 
From 1985 to 1992, his BB per 162 games was 67.  In 1993, he suddenly walks 129 times (while staying below his career high of IBB).  From 1993 to 1996, his BB per 162 games was 120.
 

DLew On Roids

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Lowrielicious said:
What motivation does he have for this?
 
It is the way of "journalism" these days. Why take the time and effort to actually investigate when the only payoff for that is a) you miss being first to report and b) you miss the story if you happen to find it is bullshit.
 
There is no c) you lose credibility/your job when it turns out you were wrong, so what's the risk. Just report whatever you're told and lap up the clicks, viewers, listeners etc.
 
Not that you're wrong about contemporary journalism, but your implied nostalgia for a previous era is probably a little off.  We remember the great journalists from 50 or 100 years ago, but this is the sort of thing Hedda Hopper or Louella Parsons would have loved.
 

DJnVa

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While he clearly didn't lead the league in walks a few times like he said, there is this:
 
Before claim: .363 OBP, walk rate of about 7.8%
After claim: .401 OBP, walk rate of about 11.6%
 
However, his OBP had started to rise before that--.400 the 3 years before, but his walk rate had only climbed to about 8.8%
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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He also started getting injured even more than usual so may well have been looking to draw walks instead of swinging away all the time.
 
Dykstra's basic problem here is that he's been a liar for years and years, on a long slow path that eventually landed him in prison. I'm not sure why anyone should take anything he says seriously.
 

terrisus

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
Dykstra's basic problem here is that he's been a liar for years and years, on a long slow path that eventually landed him in prison. I'm not sure why anyone should take anything he says seriously.
That's more or less what they said about Jose Canseco.

Not that I believe Dykstra, but, someone with those sorts of problems seems fairly in line with someone who would try to blackmail people.
 

threecy

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
Dykstra's basic problem here is that he's been a liar for years and years, on a long slow path that eventually landed him in prison. I'm not sure why anyone should take anything he says seriously.
Canseco didn't have a great track record, and there's a good chance he was lying about some of his steroid claims, but there was an element of truth to his claims.
 
Dykstra does make a good point, in that umpires are people too.  How often do we hear about MLB umpires being fired for gambling/cheating/etc.?  I think there's only been one high profile firing in recent years, due to a failed drug test?  I think it's hard to believe that all MLB umpires are on the level.

Another SOSH-hated figure could probably provide insight:  Curt Schilling.  I recall he had detailed analysis of every umpire when he was pitching; perhaps he also had theories into which ones were crooked.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Canseco being insane and telling the truth about PED use doesn't automatically lead to Dystra telling the truth about blackmailing umps.
 
If I'm wrong I'll live with it, but I'll definitely be holding out on believing anything Lenny Dykstra says about anything.
 

threecy

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YTF said:
So in effect, Dykstra went on a national broadcast and with little to no prompting he openly admitted to blackmail? Tough as nails, dumb as a box of hammers.
Statute of limitations legally, so this probably only affects his MLB standing.
 

Marciano490

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I've never priced a PI, but 500k sounds like a lot of money for this. How many umpires were there in MLB in the 80s? 
 

Toe Nash

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DrewDawg said:
While he clearly didn't lead the league in walks a few times like he said, there is this:
 
Before claim: .363 OBP, walk rate of about 7.8%
After claim: .401 OBP, walk rate of about 11.6%
 
However, his OBP had started to rise before that--.400 the 3 years before, but his walk rate had only climbed to about 8.8%

 
Here's his BB% by year. He only topped 80 BB twice, but he also only topped 600 PA twice in his career. His rates were fairly steady over time.
 

Average Reds

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threecy said:
All he would need is a baseball card on the table to check that.
I suspect there is an element of truth in this somewhere though.
 
He did sign a 3 year, $7.3M contract after the 1990 season, according to the AP at the time.
 
From 1985 to 1992, his BB per 162 games was 67.  In 1993, he suddenly walks 129 times (while staying below his career high of IBB).  From 1993 to 1996, his BB per 162 games was 120.
So let me see if I understand this.

There are approximately 654,893,249,431 women accusing Bill Cosby of being a rapist and he actually admitted to the core elements under oath and yet you claim it is proof of nothing. But numerous umps are being accused of rigging games and the only source is an outlandish claim from Lenny Dykstra that doesn't stand up under the most basic scrutiny and yet you believe it?

SJH is dead right. Dykstra is a sick, desperate man trying to sell a story.
 

joe dokes

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Lowrielicious said:
What motivation does he have for this?
 
It is the way of "journalism" these days. Why take the time and effort to actually investigate when the only payoff for that is a) you miss being first to report and b) you miss the story if you happen to find it is bullshit.
 
There is no c) you lose credibility/your job when it turns out you were wrong, so what's the risk. Just report whatever you're told and lap up the clicks, viewers, listeners etc.
 
Cowherd just served as Lenny's "one free interview."  If you want to hear the rest of Lenny's juicy tales, you'll have to pay. And then he'll wash your car.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Shame is he's got two sons playing in the minor leagues. Hope their strike zones don't change after this revelation...
 
Seriously, how do you deal with this as one of the guy's grown sons?
 

Lowrielicious

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Fred not Lynn said:
Shame is he's got two sons playing in the minor leagues. Hope their strike zones don't change after this revelation...
 
Seriously, how do you deal with this as one of the guy's grown sons?
You never know, it might actually help them. It worked for Elliot Ness in The Untouchables.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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YTF said:
So in effect, Dykstra went on a national broadcast and with little to no prompting he openly admitted to blackmail? Tough as nails, dumb as a box of hammers.
 
He's trying to sell a book.  He also said there were more things in the book but you'd have to buy it to find out.
 

garlan5

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This was my favorite player as a kid. I followed him until the 93 season. Really discouraging life after baseball for someone you loved to watch give it all on the baseball field as a kid.
 

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Lowrielicious said:
Shame is he's got two sons playing in the minor leagues. Hope their strike zones don't change after this revelation...
 
Seriously, how do you deal with this as one of the guy's grown sons?
 
I read Nailed! a few years ago and Dykstra sounds like a grade-A asshole.
 
His daughter-in-law is Meadow Soprano. 
 

Spelunker

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garlan5 said:
This was my favorite player as a kid. I followed him until the 93 season. Really discouraging life after baseball for someone you loved to watch give it all on the baseball field as a kid.
*coughSchillingcough*
 

ToeKneeArmAss

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garlan5 said:
This was my favorite player as a kid. I followed him until the 93 season. Really discouraging life after baseball for someone you loved to watch give it all on the baseball field as a kid.
 
Yeah, I was thinking that for me at least, Lenny belongs in a special category with Schilling and Kirby Puckett - guys I adored when they played and for whom I've lost all respect since.
 

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
 
I read Nailed! a few years ago and Dykstra sounds like a grade-A asshole.
 
His daughter-in-law is Meadow Soprano. 
 
She's had a baby with Lenny's son Cutter.
 
Cutter...Christ. Sounds like a name Papelbon would give to one of his dogs.
 

lexrageorge

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ToeKneeArmAss said:
 
Yeah, I was thinking that for me at least, Lenny belongs in a special category with Schilling and Kirby Puckett - guys I adored when they played and for whom I've lost all respect since.
Seriously?
 
Dykstra's run ins with the law have been well documented here and elsewhere; bottom line is that he is just a terrible person.  Puckett had been accused of sexual assault on multiple occasions.  Schilling was the head of a business venture that went under.  One of these things is not like the other.
 

smastroyin

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Yes but he is a loudmouth and his politics are terrible which on the internet puts him in the company of Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, and Ivan the Terrible.