VAC'S WHACKS

THE DEEP thinker who thought it would be a good idea to kill off the wife in “Kevin Can Wait,” a marginally funny CBS sitcom whose charm lies almost entirely in the likeability of its creator and star, Kevin James, had to be the same person who told David

Caruso: “You can do better than John Kelly and ‘NYPD Blue.’ Trust me.”

Two essential summer reads if you’re a sucker for baseball history, as I am: “Electric October” by

Kevin Cook, a fascinating deep dive into the unlikely characters that made the 1947 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers a classic (pre-order it now; it is out Aug. 15); and also “Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue,” by Tom

Van Riper, a terrific look at what was probably the best rivalry of the ’70s.

By the time he’s done, it may well be that Curtis

Granderson will have been the best free-agent signing in Mets history. On Monday he will hold a 10-year anniversary celebration of his Grand Kids Foundation at the New York Public Library, a reminder that he’s really been one of the good guys around here, Bronx and Flushing, for a long, long time.

A couple of colleagues in this department lost a dear friend this week,

Richie Leonard of Pompton Plains, N.J., who loved the Rangers and everything about hockey for so many of his 60 years. Godspeed.