Philadelphia Phillies
Dykstra was initially upset over the trade as he enjoyed playing in New York; nevertheless, he was well liked in Philadelphia and soon became a fan favorite there as well. (According to former general manager Frank Cashen, the Phillies offered Dykstra back to the Mets after the 1989 season, but the Mets refused.) He was known for his trademark cheek full of tobacco and hard play. With the Phillies, Dykstra's career was marked by incredible highs and lows. In 1990, he started in the All Star Game, led the league in hits, and finished fourth in batting average. He was batting over .400 into June.
Dykstra's next two seasons were marred by injury. In 1991, while driving drunk, he crashed his car into a tree on Darby-Paoli Road in Radnor Township. Teammate Darren Daulton, who was with him during the drunken incident, was also injured. Dykstra suffered fractured ribs, a broken cheekbone, and a fractured collarbone, which cost him two months. In late August of that year, Dykstra broke his collarbone again while playing in Cincinnati by running into the outfield wall and ended up missing the remainder of the season.
On Opening Day 1992, Dykstra was hit by a pitch that broke his hand. In all he played in just 145 of 324 possible games in the 1991 and 1992 seasons.
In 1993, it all seemed to come together for Dykstra and the Phillies. The team, which had been rebuilding since its last playoff appearance ten years previous, returned to the top of the National League East. He played in 161 games, setting a Major League record with 773 plate appearances. Despite being overlooked for the 1993 All-Star team, Dykstra led the league in runs, hits, walks, and at-bats, and was runner-up to Barry Bonds in voting for the Most Valuable Player of the National League. Dykstra's spark led the Phillies to the World Series, where they faced the Toronto Blue Jays. In the series, Dykstra batted .348 and hit four home runs, including two in a 15–14 Phillies loss in Game 4. The Phillies ultimately lost the series in six games.
Read more about this topic: Lenny Dykstra
Famous quotes containing the word philadelphia:
“It used to be said that, socially speaking, Philadelphia asked who a person is, New York how much is he worth, and Boston what does he know. Nationally it has now become generally recognized that Boston Society has long cared even more than Philadelphia about the first point and has refined the asking of who a person is to the point of demanding to know who he was. Philadelphia asks about a man’s parents; Boston wants to know about his grandparents.”
—Cleveland Amory (b. 1917)