It’s fair to say former 1986 Mets World Series champion and perennial Philadelphia Phillies All-Star center fielder Lenny Dykstra has had a colorful past with drugs, steroids and various amounts of financial and legal trouble.

Dykstra spent four and a half seasons with the Mets helping them win the 1986 World Series championship while platooning in center field with fan favorite Mookie Wilson. It was with the Mets that Dykstra developed the nickname “Nails,” given to him by the fans for his hard-nosed and scrappy type of playing style.

In 1989, the Mets dealt Dykstra to the Philadelphia Phillies during the season, which can still be viewed as a regrettable decision. In Philadelphia, Dykstra was a three-time All-Star and MVP candidate leading the league in hits twice in 1990 and 1993, as well as on-base percentage, runs, walks, at-bats and plate appearances while helping the Phillies reach the World Series.

Dykstra spoke with MetsMerized in a phone interview regarding baseball’s electronic sign stealing scandal, specifically the 2017 World Series champion Houston Astros, who were penalized for stealing signs on camera and relaying them to the dugout, which had players hitting a trash can to send the message to the batter on what pitch was coming.

“Impossible,” Dykstra said. “Whoever is on trash can duty would have to be extremely locked in because there’s no way a camera guy in center field could get the sign and relay to the dugout that fast, and then have that guy send the signal to the batter before the pitcher starts his windup. Especially with pitchers speeding up their delivery to the plate.”

“Why do you think stolen base numbers are way down?,” Dykstra continued. “Pitchers use a slide step delivery to the plate, so guys have about two seconds to get there before the throw is coming and you’re hoping the catcher makes a bad throw.

“The whole thing (scandal) is a joke. Teams are changing their signs every inning because they know their opponent is trying to decode them the whole time. Manfred went too hard against them in this investigation. It’s been a part of the game for 70 years.”

Although Dykstra believes the Mets should have backed up now former manager Carlos Beltran, who they “mutually agreed” to part ways with last week after he was named as a catalyst in the report, he wasn’t all that big a fan of Beltran’s potential to lead this team.

“The Mets want a push button guy,” Dykstra said. “I don’t think Beltran would have been the right guy for the job because you need a manager who comes to the clubhouse every day and inspires his guys to fight for him and win.”

“That’s why I think Hojo (former Mets third basemen and Dykstra teammate Howard Johnson) would be perfect for the job,” Dykstra continued. “He knows the game, he was a pro, has several years of major league coaching experience, plus he’s a ‘milk and cookies’ type of leader, which is what the Mets want.”

There have been some rumors floating around that the Mets could bring back their former skipper from 2011-17 Terry Collins. Dykstra made it crystal clear this is one candidate he would not endorse by blasting Collins managerial track record.

“I don’t think the Mets should bring Collins back. There’s a problem when guys like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell have an issue playing for you. He’s a losing manager, his record speaks for itself,” said Dykstra who cited Collins career managing record of 495-1,017 (.495%). However he did take the Mets to back-to-back playoff appearances and the 2015 World Series.

“Davey Johnson was the most overrated manager of all-time too,” Dykstra said. “He had some of the most talented teams in the ’80s and he only won one World Series title.”

“In 1988, we were up 3-1 on the Dodgers in the NLCS and Davey left Dwight Gooden in to face John Shelby who owned Doc in his career,” Dykstra continued. “Meanwhile, Randy Myers is warming up in the bullpen and he was on an incredible hot streak since September. No one could figure him out.

“Instead, Doc walks Shelby and next thing we know, Mike Scioscia steps to the plate and wraps one around the foul pole to take the lead late in the game. That’s when we knew we were f**ked.”

The Mets would go on to lose that series, which pretty much all but ended the run of those ’80s teams as the core started to break apart the following year.

One managerial candidate Dykstra is in in favor to take over the Mets is Dusty Baker. Baker was recently named as a potential option for the Mets, who Dykstra is a big fan of and told me he believes this would be a great move.

Named in the 2007 Mitchell Report, Dykstra, a known PED user, also criticized the Hall-of-Fame voting system for keeping players out of the club for using steroids.

“The best players should be in the Hall-of-Fame,” he said. “Isn’t it all about the numbers? Roger Clemens won 354 games. Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter to ever play the game. I mean he walked 232 times in one season because pitchers were scared to face him.”

Of course, Bonds finished his career with the most home runs (762), walks (2,558), and intentional walks (688) of all-time.

“I basically ate HGH in my cereal every morning during my playing career,” Dykstra said. “It wasn’t illegal back then.”

“I remember my first offseason in 1990 since the Mets traded me to the Phillies the season before, I was down in Mississippi and went to the doctor to see if he had anything to help me keep up with the grind of a full-season,” he continued. “I said ‘Doc, I don’t need anything to help me play baseball, I need something that’s going to help me stay durable during a six-month season.’

“The doctor wrote me a prescription for anabolic steroids and sent me down to the drug store and told me to come back and he’d show me how to use it. Well once I got it and went back to his office he was waiting with a huge needle and that was the first time I ever used PEDs.”

Dykstra would go on to make his first All-Star appearance in 1990 on his way to leading the league with 192 hits and a .418 on-base percentage. He also would finish ninth in the MVP voting that year.

Dykstra spent six more seasons with the Phillies, leading the league in plate appearances (773), at-bats (637), walks (129), hits (194, career high), and runs (143) in the 1993 season where he helped the team capture the pennant. Dykstra also took home his only silver slugger award and finished second in the MVP voting.

The centerf ielder had two more All-Star seasons with the Phillies in 1994-95 before his career was cut short in 1996 due to injuries. He would attempt a comeback in spring training of 1998; however, things did not work out and he called it quits the age of 35.

Dykstra released his book “House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge,” back in 2016, which was ranked No. 11 on New York Times best seller list. This led to an animated media tour, where Dykstra appeared on The Howard Stern show and Larry King Now, to promote his book.

Unfortunately, Dykstra has also faced several counts of legal trouble filing for bankruptcy and later being sentenced to 6.5 months in prison and 500 hours of community service after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud, identity theft, grand theft auto and money laundering in 2012.

He has also been arrested more than once on drug possession, most recently back in 2018, where he was indicted in New Jersey for cocaine and methamphetamine possession, along with making “terroristic threats,” to an uncooperative Uber driver.

In April 2019, Dykstra filed a lawsuit against former Mets teammate and current SNY broadcaster Ron Darling, who used his book to accuse Dykstra of yelling racial slurs directed towards Red Sox pitcher Oil Can Boyd, in the on-deck circle of the 1986 World Series. However, these allegations have been denied by Boyd and several witnesses present on the Mets team including Darryl Strawberry.

As of December 2019, Dykstra returned to the Howard Stern show to participate in Howard’s “Hollyweird Squares,” game.