Former Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra struck out in the ninth inning yesterday, when a Los Angeles judge sentenced him to three years in the slammer for grand-theft auto and filing a false financial statement.
Dykstra, a 1986 World Series star, tried to throw Judge Cynthia Ulfig a curve, asking her to let him withdraw a plea of “no contest.’’
But she insisted his leasing of expensive cars from dealers by providing bogus information and claiming credit through phony businesses showed sophistication and planning.
“He obviously didn’t have the money to get the vehicles,” Ulfig said.
“His conduct was indeed criminal.”
At the Mets’ Port St. Lucie, Fla., spring training facility, the team’s former manager, Davey Johnson, was distraught.
“I love the guy,’’ he told The Post. “The only regret I have is that we traded him. He’ll come out of it.’’
He added, “Like Darryl [Strawberry] and Doc [Gooden], two of my boys who came on hard times, I care about him as a man as much as I did as a player.’’
Dykstra, 49, had made a plea for probation, saying he tried to make amends for his past errors, including his arrest after cops found drugs and human growth hormones in his home.
The slugger, who played for 12 years with the Mets and the Phillies, has earned nearly a year’s worth of credit toward his sentence for time already served.
Defense lawyer Andrew Flier said Dykstra was singled out because he’s a celebrity.