Mets Outfielder Lenny Dykstra Says He Blackmailed Closeted Umpires For Better Calls
As the New York Mets take on the Royals in the World Series, former Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra has admitted that, at the height of his career, he paid $500,000 to private investigators to collect dirt on closeted umpires so that he could get better calls in games.
Dykstra, who played both the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies between 1985 to 1996, made the admission in an interview with Fox Sports 1's Colin Cowherd.
"Their blood's just as red as ours. Some of them like women, some of them like men, some of them gamble... some of them do whatever."
Dykstra revealed that he'd drop the information while batting, and the scared umpires would shrink the strike zone, enabling him to get on base more often. "It wasn't a coincidence that I led the league in walks the next few years, was it?"
According to Cyd Zeigler at Outsports, there were two known closeted umpires during Dykstra's career, Dave Pallone and Dale Scott.
"To justify this disgusting display, Dykstra said he was just doing it to feed his family," Zeigler says. "I'm not sure what is lower: Invading the private lives of men whom he should have viewed as his colleagues and then blackmailing them, or then using your children and wife as a shield to keep naysayers at bay."
If you've got $500,000 to spend on private investigators, you're probably not having that much trouble feeding your family.
Dykstra says that more details about his disgusting actiosn will be revealed in his upcoming book. Let's hope that MLB bans him from all league activities for life, like Zeigler is calling for.
