Major League Baseball

Report: Dykstra tries to help pal in rehab

Published May. 24, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Ex-Mets star Dwight Gooden, in a radio interview Tuesday, said troubled former teammate Lenny Dykstra attempted to break him out of a treatment facility during the taping of the VH1 reality show "Celebrity Rehab."

Gooden, who has been plagued off and on since the mid-1980s with alcohol and drug problems, will appear on the next season of the reality show, hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky.

"Actually, Dykstra came to visit me on 'Celebrity Rehab.' I'll tell you what, it was crazy," Gooden said in an interview on WFAN in New York.

"He thought that I had been hypnotized and [Dr. Drew] got me in there and was holding me hostage. He tried to come in with two guys to get me out of there."

A couple of weeks before the incident the two former teammates, who played pivotal roles in the 1986 World Series team, dined in New York. Dykstra had tried to get in contact shortly afterward and could not get in touch with Gooden because cell phone use was limited while on the show.

"So they come in. I'm talking to him, he wanted to talk, 'Doc, I don't like this.' So we go out on the patio, me and him and the two guys are sitting there, we're talking," Gooden said.

"He said, 'You sure this is what you want?' I go 'yeah.' He goes, 'I don't know. I don't feel good about this. … Let me take your bags, and if you don't like it, you call me.' I was like, 'Trust me. I'm cool.'"

Dykstra, who found financial success after his baseball career with the Mets and Phillies, has dealt with an array of difficulties since and recently filed for bankruptcy.

Gooden was not sure if cameras caught the scene between him and Dykstra.

"This is not part of the show. This is real stuff," Gooden said. "Whether they got it [on video] or not, I'm not sure."

Gooden said producers from the show asked him — perhaps jokingly — if Dykstra would be interested in being a participant on the show next season.

Read more

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball