Former Mets/Phillies OF Lenny Dykstra (above) is facing allegations from a partner in his “Taj Mahal Of Car Washes” business that he bet on baseball and engaged in steroid use in the early ’90’s. From the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire.

A longtime friend and business partner is suing Dykstra in Ventura County, seeking to regain an interest in their lucrative Southern California car wash business. In the suit, Lindsay Jones, 42, of Irvine, alleges that Dykstra advised him to bet thousands of dollars with a bookmaker on selected Phillie games in 1993.

Jones said in a sworn statement that his baseball wagers were a form of payment to him, made “on the basis that Lenny would cover all losses, and I would use the winnings to live on.”

Dykstra’s lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said the three-time All-Star “absolutely denies” the allegation, calling it “unsubstantiated” and “a fabricated story from a disgruntled partner.”

The suit includes a sworn declaration from a Florida bodybuilder ” a convicted drug dealer ” who said Dykstra paid him $20,000 plus “special perks” during their eight-year association to “bulk up” the once-slight ballplayer. In an interview, Jeff Scott said he injected Dykstra with steroids “more times than I can count,” and that Dykstra stepped up his steroid use in spring training of 1993 because “it was a contract year.”

Petrocelli, citing Scott’s criminal past, said the steroid allegation was not “reliable or credible,” and called the former bodybuilder “biased and aligned with Jones.” In the past, Dykstra has denied using steroids.

Petrocelli said the allegations by Jones and Scott are an effort to sensationalize the lawsuit and pressure Dykstra into a settlement. “It’s not appropriate that they are using this lawsuit to advance these arguments in an effort to collect money,” the attorney said.

Scott said he served as a “middleman” in Dykstra’s steroid purchases, obtaining the drugs from friends at Clearwater workout spots.

Scott said he injected Dykstra either at Scott’s residence or Dykstra’s various spring training homes: a penthouse at a resort known as Altamar, the Safety Harbor House and the Bayou Club in nearby Largo.

cott said he provided nutritional guidance and “spotted and packed the weights” during Dykstra’s gym visits. Scott said Dykstra took five types of steroids in 1993, two in tablet form and three as liquid injected into his buttocks.

The tablets were Anadrol and Dianabol; the injectibles were Sustanon 250, Parabolin and Deca-Durabolin, Scott said. After 1993, he added, Dykstra began taking testosterone and human growth hormone injections.

Scott said Dykstra paid him $100 for each injection, telling him, “You give shots better than my nurse.”

To baseball observers, Dykstra appeared far more muscular than he had as a 160-pound leadoff man for the 1986 Mets, who won the World Series.

ESPN reporter Jayson Stark told the Chicago Tribune last month about a 1993 clubhouse meeting with a shirtless Dykstra.

“I said, ‘Look at you. What did you do?’ ” Stark recalled. “[Dykstra] said, ‘I took some real good vitamins.’ ”

Scott said Dykstra used human growth hormone and steroids, while trying to rehabilitate his back. He said he injected human growth hormone into the fatty tissue on Dykstra’s midsection.

Erin Scott, the trainer’s ex-wife, a Florida schoolteacher, said she witnessed several of Dykstra’s visits to her home for injections in 1997 and 1998.

“[Dykstra] came over a lot after his spring training games, sometimes just to get the shot,” Erin Scott said. ” ¦ It was pretty obvious. Sometimes, they’d even leave the bathroom door open. I remember Lenny walking out of there holding his butt ¦ he said, ‘Ooh, that hurt.’ ”

In 1993, Jones alleged, Dykstra was advising him on baseball bets.

“Lenny would instruct me to bet on baseball games in 1993 at an average bet of $2,000 per game,” Jones said in a sworn statement. “Together, we won 11 straight Phillies’ games in a row before being cut off by the bookmaker who was convinced that I had inside information.”

Jones does not allege that Dykstra, his friend since their days growing up in Garden Grove, ever recommended betting against the Phillies. He declined to elaborate on his sworn statements, citing a gag order from the lawsuit arbitrator.