Lenny Dykstra seems to pop up in the news every couple of months, but never for a positive reason anymore.
With the New York Mets looking to win their first World Series since 1986, the Dude is topical this week and appeared on Colin Cowherd's show "The Herd."
In the clip you can watch below, Dykstra first describes getting hooked on opiates in order to fight through the pain of being a professional baseball player. Some athletes would drink 18-20 beers to make the pain go away, according to Dykstra, but he opted for one small pill instead.
Dykstra then describes how he later needed steroids in order to have strength towards the end of the season but also to earn a big payday in his next contract.
"Did I want to take steroids? No," Dykstra told Cowherd. "But I literally could not make it through a full season playing everyday. I'm a small guy. It wasn't that I forgot how to hit. I was just too weak. So I needed something to keep me strong throughout the season. In August, the bat felt like a telephone pole so in my contract year, 1990, I didn't know what to do. I was living in Mississippi and I just called up some hillbilly doctor there and I made an appointment and I just told him the whole story.
"I said, 'Look, this year is going to determine if I get paid and be an everyday player or not. So I need something to keep me strong.' I went and read about the runner Ben Johnson who was the first guy to use [steroids]. I went to the library and I found I needed Deca Durabolin. The doctor said, 'okay.' and he writes it. He said, 'come back and I'll show you how to do it.' Then I hire a trainer and I show up to spring training looking like Greek statue, 190 [pounds]. Now, I lead the league in hits, I hit .325, hittting .400 in June, the cover of Sports Illustrated. You think they work? Maybe."
Dykstra also talked about blackmailing umpires, "Fear does a lot to a man."