Lenny Dykstra Files for Bankruptcy

Is Lenny Dykstra the personification of the American economy?

A little more than a year ago Dykstra was being profiled in the New Yorker, sharing his stock-picking wizardry with Jim Cramer's acolytes and generally being regarded as a financial whiz whose business acumen was hidden behind a tobacco-chewing exterior. But just as our economic system wasn't as healthy as it appeared in the best of times, Dykstra's finances weren't quite as good as they appeared on the outside.

The stories went from glowing to accusatory, lawsuits and debtors started to line up at the gates and, finally, Dykstra filed for bankruptcy in California.

Dykstra reportedly has no more than $50,000 in assets, according to the bankruptcy filing. He has between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities, a disparity that has remnants of a burst bubble all over it.

If you look back at the previous times we've covered Dykstra at FanHouse, you can trace his fall from grace fairly easily. The New York Daily News does a pretty good job of summarizing just how bad things have gone for the former Met and Phillie in the past 12 months, though.

Among those claiming they were stiffed by the player known as Nails are a pair of private jet rental companies, his brother, a Las Vegas printing business, a former lawyer and several former employees. Dykstra's wife is also suing him for divorce, and his $18 million California mansion is in foreclosure.

Throw in a dead dog, a broken down pickup truck and a tornado, add some fiddling, and you've got yourself a helluva country song right there.

Dykstra's attorney claims the filing is merely a way to reorganize his assets so that they can best fight "meritless claims," and there's always more than one side to every story. That said, this filing is likely the nail in Nails' coffin as a celebrated financial entrepreneur.