Score one for Team Dykstra.
Wally Backman became the latest former Met to chime in on the feud between Lenny Dykstra and Ron Darling over whether Dykstra shouted racial slurs at Red Sox pitcher Oil Can Boyd from the on-deck circle during the 1986 World Series, as Darling claims he did.
Dykstra has vehemently denied the allegation while former teammates Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and Kevin Mitchell, along with Boyd, have all said they did not hear his comments. Keith Hernandez, meanwhile, said he saw Dykstra “barking” at Boyd, but did not hear the alleged insults.
Backman was adamant the episode never happened.
“The fact of the matter is I [was] standing right besides Lenny on the on-deck circle before that game,” said Backman, the former minor-league Mets manager now in charge of the Long Island Ducks. “If something like that would have happened, if something would have been said, I would have said something to him at that time. But I’ve known Lenny a long time and I know for a fact — on my kids’ life — he did not say that.”
The evidence on both sides has been weighed and I think it’s pretty clear on who the winner is. Darling should apologize and admit he got it wrong.