Chastened Dykstra Is Forced to Back Down : Baseball: Phillie apologizes to angry fellow players for questioning union’s tactics, then makes a quick getaway.

The players stared at him in disgust the moment he entered the hotel lobby Wednesday morning, and by the time Lenny Dykstra stood before his peers, he had been chastised and ridiculed into submission.

“It was like a Christian going into a lion’s den,” free-agent outfielder Andy Van Slyke said. “And there were 400 lions with their fangs sticking out. I’m sure it was humbling for him.”

Dykstra, reading from a prepared statement, apologized for publicly questioning the union’s tactics. He then raised his concerns, was loudly answered, and by the time he sat down, was a loyal union man once again.

“There were a few guys who wanted to charge him, but we listened to what he had to say,” New York Met outfielder Bobby Bonilla said.

“Then, he listened to what we had to say. We made it loud and clear. Believe me, by the time he was done, he understood what this is all about.”

Said Dodger center fielder Brett Butler: “We had to bring him up to snuff. I mean, he set negotiations back two to three weeks with his comments last week.”

Dykstra, who is losing $31,000 a day during the strike, shared his sentiments with 260 peers, but not with the throng of waiting reporters. He ducked out of the hotel lobby through a service entrance, hid behind a car, then drove off with Philadelphia Phillie teammate Dave Hollins without answering questions. Union chief Donald Fehr and the rest of the players were left to talk for him.

“He’s not crossing (the imaginary picket line),” Phillie pitcher Curt Schilling said. “He made that very clear.”

Fehr said, “There’s 1,000 players out there, and we seemed to be focusing on one. Lenny has never suggested to me that he was not with the union.”

The union and owners might resume negotiations by the beginning of next week, sources said.