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| (Photo credit: masslive.com) |
Lenny Dykstra's every move has been easy to track during these past few years. The questions about steroids or the details of his financial rise and fall have also been voluminous. His association with Charlie Sheen and indictment for bankruptcy fraud are just the latest in a series of media flashes.
In our scrubbed memories we see a smiling, gritty
guy who would do anything to win. Dykstra channeled his personality
traits through a baseball diamond, while the fans couldn't help but
love the luster.
1993
World Series, Game 4
The
Philadelphia Phillies were trailing the Toronto Blue Jays two games
to one, when Game
4 got
underway on a rainy night at Veterans
Stadium in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tommy
Greene, who went 16-4 in the regular season, yielded three runs in
top of the first. Dykstra initiated the Phillies' counterattack when
he worked a walk off Todd Stottlemyre to start the bottom half of
the inning. He stole second base and later scored on the Blue Jays
starter's fourth walk of the inning. The Phillies exited that first
frame with a 4-3 lead.
Dykstra stepped to the plate after
Greene singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the second
inning. 'The Dude' tattooed Stottlemyre
when he hit a two-run home run to deep right field.
The
Phillies' 6-3 margin wouldn't last long, as the Blue Jays regained
the lead with four runs in the top of the third inning. Greene's departure followed.
Up
and Down
Al
Leiter took over for Stottlemyre in the third inning and was still
pitching in the fourth when Dykstra hit a line-drive double to
center field. Mariano Duncan followed with a single that tied the
score at 7-7.
In
the bottom of the fifth Leiter yielded a two-run home run to Darren
Daulton. Milt Thompson then doubled home a run and was standing on
second base when Dykstra hit another two-run home run to right field
that gave the Phillies a 12-7 lead.
The
Phillies' bullpen surrendered a six spot in the top of the
eighth. That offensive barrage proved to be too much to overcome, as
the Blue Jays won the game 15-14 to take a three games to one series lead.
Dykstra's
three-hit, four-run, four-RBI performance was just one part of what
proved to be the best season of his career.
Nailing
it
Everyone
has the right to question the types of decisions that 'Nails' made
during his playing days or how he has handled his subsequently loud
retirement. But everyone who values a red light player will always
remember the night 'The Dude' was swinging in the rain.
(I hold all copyrights to this article which originally appeared on Yahoo's Voices platform in 2011.)
In our scrubbed memories we see a smiling, gritty
guy who would do anything to win. Dykstra channeled his personality
traits through a baseball diamond, while the fans couldn't help but
love the luster.
1993
World Series, Game 4
The
Philadelphia Phillies were trailing the Toronto Blue Jays two games
to one, when Game
4 got
underway on a rainy night at Veterans
Stadium in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tommy
Greene, who went 16-4 in the regular season, yielded three runs in
top of the first. Dykstra initiated the Phillies' counterattack when
he worked a walk off Todd Stottlemyre to start the bottom half of
the inning. He stole second base and later scored on the Blue Jays
starter's fourth walk of the inning. The Phillies exited that first
frame with a 4-3 lead.
Dykstra stepped to the plate after
Greene singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the second
inning. 'The Dude' tattooed Stottlemyre
when he hit a two-run home run to deep right field.
The
Phillies' 6-3 margin wouldn't last long, as the Blue Jays regained
the lead with four runs in the top of the third inning. Greene's departure followed.
Up
and Down
Al
Leiter took over for Stottlemyre in the third inning and was still
pitching in the fourth when Dykstra hit a line-drive double to
center field. Mariano Duncan followed with a single that tied the
score at 7-7.
In
the bottom of the fifth Leiter yielded a two-run home run to Darren
Daulton. Milt Thompson then doubled home a run and was standing on
second base when Dykstra hit another two-run home run to right field
that gave the Phillies a 12-7 lead.
The
Phillies' bullpen surrendered a six spot in the top of the
eighth. That offensive barrage proved to be too much to overcome, as
the Blue Jays won the game 15-14 to take a three games to one series lead.
Dykstra's
three-hit, four-run, four-RBI performance was just one part of what
proved to be the best season of his career.
Nailing
it
Everyone
has the right to question the types of decisions that 'Nails' made
during his playing days or how he has handled his subsequently loud
retirement. But everyone who values a red light player will always
remember the night 'The Dude' was swinging in the rain.
(I hold all copyrights to this article which originally appeared on Yahoo's Voices platform in 2011.)
