Those two realities go a long way toward explaining why Dykstra, down and out, today sits in a Los Angeles County jail cell facing 13 counts of federal bankruptcy fraud charges and 25 state counts involving shady business practices, credit card fraud and drug possession.
He is being held on $500,000 bail on the state charges after being arraigned yesterday. Dykstra has pleaded not guilty in each case and faces 92 years in prison if convicted and given maximum sentences. His next court date in the state case is July 11 to set a preliminary hearing. His federal case is scheduled for trial Aug. 9, coincidentally when the Phillies are in town to play the Dodgers.
There are two sides to every story, though. And the 48-year-old Dykstra - so beloved when he helped will the 1993 Phillies to the World Series, now so reviled by so many people - has a version that is far different than the cartoon stick figure that has circulated to this point. His firm belief is that a complex Kafkaesque daisy chain has dragged him from the almost unimaginable opulence he once enjoyed to the depths that he now finds himself in, a national punch line.
Three points:
* Dykstra is not a saint and this is not an attempt to suggest that he is. He is not blameless.
* This story focuses on the crimes he's currently alleged to have committed, not other incidents that spattered his reputation. The carousing with Charlie Sheen. The allegations of sexual impropriety. The string of lawsuits. The perception that people who followed his investment advice lost millions.
