Lenny Dykstra Sues Ex-Mets Teammate Ron Darling over Book Alleging Racist Taunts

Lenny Dykstra filed a defamation lawsuit against former New York Mets teammate Ron Darling after the starting pitcher alleged Dykstra made racist comments toward Boston Red Sox starter Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd during the 1986 World Series. 

On Tuesday, TMZ Sports reported attorney Matthew Blit filed the suit in New York on behalf of Dykstra, who's seeking damages for "defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress."

In Darling's book, 108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game, he alleges the remarks by the Mets outfielder toward Boyd were "the worst collection of taunts and insults I'd ever head—worse, I'm betting, than anything Jackie Robinson might have heard his first couple times around the league."

Dykstra denies making any racist comments and the lawsuit states the book could "forever diminish Mr. Dykstra, stalk him, and preclude him from unknowable professional and personal relationships and benefits," per TMZ Sports.

The 56-year-old California native and his attorney are also seeking a judicial injunction to prevent further sales of the book.

Last Tuesday, Boyd said during an appearance on WFAN's Carlin, Maggie and Bart he didn't hear or see anything racist from Dykstra during that year's World Series, but added he "believes" Darling's account:

"I'm kind of disturbed about it, and I'm also kind of hurt about it because I have been around Lenny, and I played ball with Lenny in Japan. And he didn't seem to come off as that type of a person. And he had even made home at one time in Mississippi, and that's where I grew up at. The person that I saw, I liked. The person that I talked to, I liked. So I'm quite disturbed about it, but I guess what you see on the surface is not really what a person might seem to be."

Darling has stood by what he wrote in the book.