Lenny Dykstra's libel lawsuit against Ron Darling dismissed, judge notes his reputation is 'tarnished'
Dykstra sued Darling over an anecdote included in his 2018 memoir
Controversial ex-MLB star Lenny Dykstra’s defamation and libel lawsuit against his former New York Mets teammate Ron Darling was dismissed by a New York Supreme Court judge Friday.
Dykstra, 57, filed suit against Darling over an anecdote included in his 2018 memoir, “108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game.” Darling alleged Dykstra aimed racially charged taunts at Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd during the 1986 World Series.
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In his ruling to dismiss the case, Judge Robert D. Kalish did not address whether Dykstra ever made the remarks.
Lenny Dykstra and Ron Darling were teammates on the New York Mets in the late 1980s. (Getty Images)
“It is only to say that Dykstra’s reputation for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry is already so tarnished that it cannot be further injured by the reference,” Kalish said in a decision issued Friday.
In the book, Darling wrote that the alleged remarks constituted “the worst collection of taunts and insults I’d ever heard.” Dykstra and Darling were teammates on the Mets from 1985 to 1989.
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Known for his fierce competitive streak and wild antics on and off the field during his baseball career, Dykstra was involved in a number of off-field incidents following his retirement from the sport. He was sentenced eight years ago to prison on both federal and California state charges.
Dykstra was seeking monetary damages over Darling’s book, "including emotional distress damages for loss of opportunities, for the severe mental anguish, loss of reputation and humiliation, caused by Defendants' unlawful and malicious conduct.”
The judge cited claims Dykstra made in his own autobiography, "House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge," in his decision to dismiss the case.
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"Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.
“The nature and seriousness of Dykstra’s criminal offenses, which include fraud, embezzlement, grand theft, and lewd conduct and assault with a deadly weapon, and notably the degree of publicity they received, have already established his general bad reputation for fairness and decency far worse than the alleged racially charged bench-jockeying in the reference could,” the judge added.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.