Lenny Dykstra, centerfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, is one of the fiercest competitors in major league baseball. His intense style of play made him the leader of the Phillies's "worst to first" National League pennant winners of 1993. (The Phillies finished in last place in their division in 1992.) Despite a series of career-threatening injuries--more than a few caused by his own reckless behavior--Dykstra has emerged as a team leader and finished second in the 1993 National League Most Valuable Player voting.

Dykstra does not look the part of a major league baseball player. Modern major leaguers are rarely less that six feet tall; Dykstra is five-feet-ten inches and weighs less than 200 pounds. What has always made Dykstra special is his desire to win. "I grew up with baseball and I remember I always had a plan," Dykstra told the Philadelphia Daily News. "Even when I was 12, 14 years old. I knew...