NEW YORK -- Lenny Dykstra, the former star

center fielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, has filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy protection.

The 46-year-old has no more than $50,000 of assets and

between $10 million and $50 million of liabilities, according

to a petition filed Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in

the Central District of California.

Dykstra's filing comes in the wake of more than 20 lawsuits

he faces tied to his activities as a financial entrepreneur,

including The Players Club, a glossy magazine for athletes he

had helped launch in 2008.

According to an April article on ESPN.com, Dykstra put his

net worth at $60 million, and also owned a black Rolls Royce

Phantom and Gulfstream II jet.

Known as "Nails" and "The Dude," Dykstra played for 12

years with the Mets and the Phillies before retiring in 1996

with a lifetime .285 batting average, 81 home runs, 404 runs

batted in, and 285 stolen bases.

He helped the Mets win the World Series in 1986, and as a

Phillie was the National League runner-up to Barry Bonds in MVP voting in 1993. The Phillies lost the

World Series that year.

Walter Hackett, a lawyer for Dykstra, said the event

triggering the bankruptcy filing was a planned foreclosure sale

of a southern California residence that Dykstra bought from

hockey legend Wayne Gretzky for $17.5 million in 2007.

Dykstra is "in good spirits," Hackett said in an interview.

"He understands now that bankruptcy is truly a protective act.

I do expect that Lenny is going to emerge from Chapter 11, and

make those people whole who have legitimate claims."

According to the bankruptcy petition, Dykstra's largest

unsecured creditors include units of JPMorgan Chase & Co., owed $12.9 million, and Bank of America Corp,

owed a combined $4.2 million.

Hackett said Washington Mutual, now part of JPMorgan, was

the main lender on the 2007 home purchase, and that the bank

misled Dykstra about his ability to afford the property. The

lawyer said the bank deserves nothing on its claim.

JPMorgan spokesman Tom Kelly said: "We don't comment on

individual cases, but we expect our customers to repay their

legal obligations under their mortgages when possible."