Back-handed Pine-Tar beat was last bet

WITH the Royals in town, and July 24 having been the 35th anniversary of the Royals-Yankees Pine-Tar Game, time to get something off my chest:

That game was my last bet with a bookie. ... What’s that? ... Well, how do you think I made out? I had the losing side that later — too late for me — became the winning side after winning its appeal.

It was a “smart” bet. The Royals had Bud

Black, a “crafty southpaw” in the Whitey Ford mold, vs. Shane Rawley, a pitcher in the Luke Warm mold. And in 1983 they didn’t yank starters after five or six innings. And I was getting 6 or 6 ½ to risk 5, well worth a shot.

You know the rest. George Brett’s ninth-inning two-run home run to give the Royals a 5-4 lead was wiped out when Brett was ruled to have had too much black stick-um on his bat. The Yanks became 4-3 winners ... temporarily. Three weeks later the game was restarted in the top of the ninth, with the Royals up, 5-4, the official final score.

But temporarily was good enough for my bookie.

I asked him if I could withhold payment pending the outcome of KC’s appeal. At least I made him laugh.

Then I played the other side: “But what if those who bet the Yankees refused to be paid pending the outcome of that appeal? Would you agree to not yet pay them?”

He gave that some thought until he said, “Yeah, gladly.”

And that was that. I was kaput. Capeesh? Kaput. ➤ Mike Francesa, at last, is back!

Last week, as can be heard via Funhouse on Twitter, he twice told a caller, “You can get [Mets’ pitcher Zack] Wheeler for [the Yanks’ Miguel]

Andujar.” Later, when a caller brought that up, Francesa, insisted, “I didn’t say that. Never. Not even once.”

Next, his British Open tout, as usual spoken as if he actually knows. Also, as usual, he boldly selected the favorite, No. 1-ranked

Dustin Johnson. Francesa makes mush out of favorites. Johnson didn’t even make the cut.