{"id":133665,"date":"2026-03-09T18:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/133665\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:00:08","slug":"dykstra-says-god-is-his-teammate-calls-scranton-home-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/133665\/","title":{"rendered":"Dykstra says God is his teammate, calls Scranton home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Major League Baseball stars Lenny Dykstra and Howard Johnson have much more in common than winning the World Series as members of the New York Mets in 1986.<\/p>\n

Both men told those attending a Sunday service at Steamtown Church faith transformed their lives.<\/p>\n

Dykstra, who was baptized at the conclusion of the service and attended the Scranton church for several years, said he was driving around with \u201cPreacher Dennis D\u2019Augostine,\u201d the pastor of the church, in early January, when he decided it was time to change his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I knew I couldn\u2019t do it alone,\u201d Dykstra said in a recording of himself played before he was baptized. \u201cI need a teammate and that teammate is God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Major League Baseball star Lenny Dykstra and Steamtown Church Pastor Dennis D\u2019Augostine share a moment on Sunday during Dykstra\u2019s baptism. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Mets Hall of Famer Howard Johnson shares a message of faith at Steamtown Church, Scranton, on Sunday, March 8, 2026. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/p>\n

Attendees of Steamtown Church Sunday service got the chance to hear from former professional baseball player Howard Johnson on March 8, 2026. Johnson said his faith changed his life. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former baseball star Lenny Dykstra and Steamtown Church Pastor Dennis D\u2019Augostine watch a video made of Dykstra sharing the details of his faith on Sunday, March 8, 2026. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

Former Major League Baseball star Lenny Dykstra and Steamtown Church Pastor Dennis D\u2019Augostine share a moment on Sunday during Dykstra\u2019s baptism. (GERI GIBBONS\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Dykstra, 63, joined the Mets in 1985. In 1989, he was traded to the Phillies. He\u00a0played his final game with the Phillies and as a MLB player in 1996.<\/p>\n

In a 2024 interview with The Times-Tribune, Dykstra admitted he struggled with drug use but stopped short of describing himself as an addict. He was most recently charged with drug possession during\u00a0a state police traffic stop on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Johnson, who presented the message at the service, said his testimony wasn\u2019t as dramatic as that of Dykstra or Darryl Strawberry, who was also a part of the Mets team during their 1986 World Series win and now runs a ministry focused on helping people change their lives.<\/p>\n

Although Dykstra and Strawberry both struggled with drug use, Johnson didn\u2019t. Both Dykstra and Strawberry have also been divorced. But Johnson has been married to his wife for over 40 years and the couple have three children.<\/p>\n

But as a professional player who had anything that money could buy, Johnson said he wasn\u2019t fulfilled and felt like something was missing. He often felt he wasn\u2019t good enough, no matter how many games his team won or how much money he had.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call it performance theology,\u201d said Johnson, 65. \u201cOur culture is obsessed with performance, whether it be sports, finances, if you drive a better car than your neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson played for the Detroit Tigers, Mets, Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs from 1982 to 1995. In 1984, he was part of the Detroit team when they won the World Series championship.<\/p>\n

When he became a Christian, he said, it was a powerful experience and changed him on the inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about baseball or any professional sport, you think about money and fame, playing in front of thousands of people a night, millions including TV,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s often the highest mountain followed by the lowest valley, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who plays at the level goes through tremendous ups and downs,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s the time away from the field at the hotel on a road trip or home after a bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, he said, baseball players are often in pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cTravel, getting to the field early, hitting ground balls on the AstroTurf, a hard field, takes its toll,\u201d he said. \u201cThe game takes pieces of your body and deposits it all over the field. And you have to live with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, many players did whatever they had to do to get themselves to the field the next day, including taking painkillers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous game that we play with our soul when we\u2019re trying to find distraction from the pain, when we\u2019re in our most vulnerable state,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

If you can do that day after day and season after season, you put together a career, which Johnson said was \u201cabsolutely worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to play a game that you love and you get paid to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But after that career is over, many players try to fill that void with a multitude of vices, including drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n

Johnson, who recommitted to his faith in the 1990s, said his faith has deepened as he has gotten older.<\/p>\n

Johnson said he was proud and humbled to be sharing his message at the church where Dykstra would be baptized.<\/p>\n

\u201cLenny was one of the greatest ballplayers I\u2019ve ever seen. You talk about the drive, the competition, wanting to win, he had it more than most guys,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe fact that he\u2019s here today being baptized is a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the service, Dykstra and Johnson signed autographs, ready with a word of encouragement and look into the baseball history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Major League Baseball stars Lenny Dykstra and Howard Johnson have much more in common than winning the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[202,201,182,1423,139,28,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-133665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-mlb","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}