His walk totals jumped from 40 in 345 plate appearances in 1992 (11%) to 129 in 773 plate appearances (16%) in 1993.
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The now 52-year-old Dykstra responded he paid investigators – spending as much as $500,000 – while attempting to land a big contract. Oh, I don’t think you heard me.
Dykstra admitted Tuesday on FOX Sports 1’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” that he used to hire private investigators to track Major League Baseball umpires. “I just poured a half million bucks on a private investigation team. I don’t think. I know”, Dykstra said.
“Their blood’s just as red as ours”, Dykstra said…
Dykstra confirmed that he used this information in the batter’s box, asking officials if they came ahead on bets and mentioning other personal things to mold the strike zone in his favor. “Some of them like women, a few of them like men, a few of them gamble”. “Fear does a lot to a man”, he said.
He then imagined a scenario where he’d ask an ump after a called strike if he “covered the spread last night”. Suddenly, Dykstra indicated, the strike zone would shrink for him. The former centerfielder claimed he was doing what he needed to do in order to win and support his family.
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No stranger to controversy, Dykstra spent six months behind bars in 2013 on charges of grand theft auto, falsifying financial statements and drug possession charges, stemming from incidents in 2011.
