Confirmed: Dykstra released from prison

Lenny Dykstra, the troubled ex-Phillies outfielder, has been released from a federal prison after serving 15 months of a three-year term.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Dykstra was released last Friday from the Federal Correction Center in Victorville, Calif.

His whereabouts were not known.

Dykstra, 50, pleaded no contest in October 2011 to three charges of grand theft auto and one count of filing a false financial report, the latest in a series of downfalls in a tragic slide.

After attending a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, he was sentenced to three years in prison on March 5, 2012.

Last week, Christopher Frankie, author of Nailed: The Improbable Rise and Spectacular Fall of Lenny Dykstra, said he was surprised to learn that Dykstra would not serve the full term "because he blatantly disobeyed the court."

Dykstra retired at age 33 in 1996 after a 12-year career with the Mets and Phillies. He led the Phils to the National League pennant in 1993, when he batted .305.

"I hope, for his sake, his family's sake, and the public's sake, that he doesn't return to his criminal past," Frankie said.

"I think people in this country really love a comeback story, so he certainly has that opportunity," he added. "But I'm not convinced that's the path he's going to take."