From riches to rags Lenny Dykstras timeline to a California prison

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Lenny Dykstra seemed like the kind of guy you'd want to root for. A hard-nosed outfielder and the leadoff hitter for the champion New York Mets, he was a blue-collar hero who fit his "Nails" nickname. He was second in NL MVP voting in 1993, when he hit .305 with 19 homers for the NL champion Phillies.

After retirement, he opened a car wash, several other small businesses and became interested in stocks. And he had even bigger success there, pegged by CNBC's Jim Cramer to write a column for his website on investing. He bought Wayne Gretzky's mansion in California for $17 million.

And then he lost it all in the past half-decade. The highlights:

• In 2007, he was named in baseball's Mitchell Report as a steroids user during his career.
• In 2009, an unflattering portrayal of him as a magazine mogul appears in GQ.
• Caught up in the real estate collapse in July 2009, he files for bankruptcy with less than $50,000 in assets and a reported $31 million in debt.
• Auctions off his championship ring and other baseball memorabilia in September 2009.
• In December 2010, a porn star accuses Dykstra of hiring her as an escort and his $10,000 check bounced, according to Radar Online. She posted a copy of the check online.
• In April 2011, he's charged with bankruptcy fraud, accused of removing and selling property that was part of the bankruptcy estate. Also faced drug charges when police found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone at his L.A. home.
• In May 2011, Dykstra gets indicted on charges of grand theft, accused of selling cars from several dealerships by claiming credit through a nonexistent business.
• In August 2011, he's arrested and charged with indecent exposure for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.

Dykstra, now 49, was sentenced to three years in a California prison on Monday on the grand theft charge. He still faces the federal bankruptcy charges and is scheduled to stand trial this summer.

"I do have remorse for some of the things I've done," he said in an AP report. "But because I wasn't a perfect person, am I a criminal? Everyone wants to make me out to be a monster."