The meteoric rise of Lenny Dykstra from gritty New York Mets outfielder in the 1980s to witty modern-day investment prognosticator appears to be crashing to Earth.

Does that really come as a big surprise?

It shouldn’t. After all, we’re talking about “Nails” here, folks. The proud tobacco-chewing member of the “Wild Boys” who was giftwrapped and forked over to the club’s biggest division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies, for next to nothing (Juan “Big Bust” Samuel) in 1989 during his heyday.

Perhaps Mets manager at the time, Davey Johnson, is smarter than we give him credit for — maybe he knew that Dykstra was a liability. The Mitchell Report might have something to do with it, too.

ANYWAY … “The Players Club” founder and car wash tycoon is in danger of losing hockey hero Wayne Gretzky’s old house at 1072 Newbern Ct. in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which he bought for $18.5 million, to foreclosure. In fact, the “uber successful” Dykstra has not made a single mortgage payment yet this year, which seems odd for someone who claims to be filthy rich:

“You know about my stock picking, dude? I’m 92-0 [last year], worst market in history. Three thousand people signed up and pay $1,000 … I’m making people fortunes. I’m moving $3-5 billion a month.”

There are epic stories of Dykstra bouncing checks “all over the place,” chartering private jet rides that he can’t afford with other people’s money (including his own mother’s)  and defending a litany of lawsuits (18 since November 2008).

Denial just ain’t a river in Egypt, Lenny.