On base percentage

The whole Dykstra phenomenon of about a year ago was very strange. He was touted as having this brilliant business sense and personally preached the sermon of frugality for aging athletes even as he lived as lavishly as he could. And he was touted as a boy genius by Jim Cramer, so of course, he's got to be good.

“My approach in investing is much the same as my approach to hitting,” he wrote. “I would rather take a walk or single and reach first than shoot for a home run and strike out swinging.” According to The Street’s “Stat Book Scorecard,” Dykstra’s picks earned $183,650 on a hundred and three trades in an eight-month period last year. “He had an Amgen trade,” Cramer said, referring to the biotech company. “It was like hitting the ball between the shortstop and the third baseman in a way that made me feel proud.” He went on, “I have yet to meet anyone other than Lenny from the world of sports who was able to make the transfer so that they have something to say that has value added. Many sports figures have been successful salesmen, but I would most likely have hired Lenny at my hedge fund, back when I was doing that.” Dykstra is now working on a book about investing, with the literary agent David Vigliano, whom he calls “the No. 1 book agent in the country.”

His slugging percentage kind of sucks, though.

The former center fielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies has less than $50,000 worth of assets and 50 to 99 creditors, according to a petition filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in the San Fernando Valley.

Dykstra, 46, already faces about 20 lawsuits stemming from his entrepreneurial work, including The Players Club, an athletes-only magazine start-up. He owes JPMorgan Chase & Co. $12.9 million, according to the filing, and Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide and credit-card units a combined $4.2 million.

Dykstra also owes almost $1 million to jet charter services, about $342,000 to celebrity lawyer Daniel Petrocelli and $229,000 to literary agent David Vigliano.