Lenny Dykstra’s defamation and libel lawsuit against his former Mets teammate Ron Darling has been dismissed by a judge.
The former Mets outfielder filed a lawsuit about a year ago against Darling following the release of the pitcher’s autobiography, “108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game.” In the book, Darling claims Dykstra shouted racial taunts at Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd from the on-deck circle before Game 3 of the 1986 World Series.
New York Supreme Court Judge Robert D. Kalish ruled Friday that Dykstra’s “reputation for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry is already so tarnished that it cannot be further injured.”
Darling argued in court documents that “Dykstra has also been repeatedly referred to in public as a violent person and a sexual predator. … Dykstra has been publicly referred to for years as a homophobe, misogynist, and racist whose bigotry is undeniable.”
Acciording to the suit, Dykstra, who played for the Mets from 1985-89, was seeking monetary damages, compensatory damages, “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,” punitive damages and court costs.
Kalish agreed with Darling’s motion to dismiss Dykstra’s lawsuit under the libel-proof plaintiff doctrine, citing Dykstra’s legal history and stories told in his own autobiography, “House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge” as his basis for dismissing the suit.
Submit your Mets questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag
“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. “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.
“There are sports commentators, bloggers and legions of baseball fans to litigate this issue in a public space. This Court, however, has cases involving lost livelihoods, damaged and lost lives, as well as plaintiffs that have suffered very real reputational injuries. Accordingly, Darling and Publisher Defendants’ motions to dismiss the first cause of action for defamation, pursuant to the libel-proof plaintiff doctrine, are granted.”
The judge’s decision quoted portions of Darling’s book, including the alleged incident with Boyd.
“As Oil Can was taking his final warmups on the mound, Lenny was in the on-deck circle shouting every imaginable and unimaginable insult and expletive in his direction — foul, racist, hateful, hurtful stuff,” Darling wrote. “I don’t want to be too specific here, because I don’t want to commemorate this dark, low moment in Mets history in that way, but I will say that it was the worst collection of taunts and insults I’d ever heard — worse, I’m betting, than anything Jackie Robinson might have heard, his first couple times around the league.”
Darling addressed the dismissal of the case via a statement obtained by The Post on Monday afternoon.
“Late Friday afternoon I was informed that the court had dismissed the lawsuit brought against me by Lenny Dykstra,” he said. “I am pleased with the decision. I would like to acknowledge my agent Steve Rosner, as well as my lead counsel Michael Berger and his second chair Ron Kreidman, for all their hard work. I am grateful for the support of my media partners SNY, Turner Sports and the MLB Network during this legal matter and my health scare about a year ago. And of course, I would like to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their unwavering love and support. With this behind me, I will have nothing more to say about this matter. Most importantly, everyone please stay safe during these most difficult of times.”
Attempts to reach Dykstra went unanswered.
Dykstra, 57, is no stranger to the courtroom. In March 2012, he was sentenced to three years in California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He was also sentenced to 6 ½ months in prison nine months later after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering, causing his sentences to be served concurrently.