Court's opinion on MLB Legend Lenny Dykstra in 2020: "Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator"

In June 2020, MLB legend Lenny Dykstra's long list of misdeeds was cited by a judge while dismissing his defamation lawsuit against New York Mets star Ron Darling.

The chain of events dates back to April 2019 when Ron's book, “108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game,” was released. Out of all the mid-80s New York Mets team stories in the book, the highlight involved Lenny Dykstra and former Red Sox pitcher Dennis Boyd.

Ron narrated in the book that, before Game 3 of the 1986 World Series, Dykstra was shouting expletives in Boyd’s direction. A week later, Dykstra sued Darling for defamation.

More than a year after that, in June 2020, Lenny Dykstra's defamation suit was dismissed. The court surprisingly upheld Ron Darling's assertion.

Here's the court's opinion on the matter:

"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.

"Further, Dykstra had a reputation—largely due to his autobiography—of being willing to do anything to benefit himself and his team, including using steroids and blackmailing umpires . . .

"Considering this information, which was presumably known to the average reader of the book, this Court finds that, as a matter of law, the reference in the book has not exposed Dykstra to any further 'public contempt, ridicule, aversion or disgrace,' or 'evil opinion of him in the minds of right-thinking persons,' or 'deprivation of friendly intercourse in society.'”

Further, the judge went on to narrate Lenny's past actions.

"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 . . .

"...Given the aforesaid litany of stories concerning Dykstra’s poor and mean-spirited behavior particularly toward various groups including racial minorities, women, and the LGBTQ community—this Court finds that, as a matter of law, the reference cannot 'induce an evil opinion of [Dykstra] in the minds of right-thinking persons' or 'deprive him of their friendly intercourse in society,' as that 'evil opinion' has long existed."

Naturally, the court dismissing the lawsuit didn't go down well with Lenny Dykstra.

Lenny Dykstra took a dig at Ron Darling after losing the defamation lawsuit in June 2020

Lenny Dykstra

Days after the court dropped his defamation lawsuit against Ron Darling, Lenny Dykstra claimed that Darling had falsified his fight with thyroid cancer 14. Dykstra reasoned that Darling wanted to stay out of the spotlight after receiving negative press for his memoir.

Here's what Dykstra wrote in an email to New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon:

"As soon as the stories he wrote in his book … [he] started getting taken apart by the fans, his former teammates (three of them African-American) and the press on a daily basis.”

“So, he did the only thing he could do to get out of the line of fire … [take] a ‘medical leave of absence.’ He knew the only way to get the fans to stop the daily beating he was taking was to play the ‘pity card.”

The Lenny-Darling feud turned so bad that Dykstra's lawyers received a letter from Ron Darling's physician stating that Darling had cancer. However, Dykstra was still not convinced.