October 6, 1998 Rudy Wagers Island Dough There’s more than the city's pride on the line as the Yanks open up the American League Championship series showdown against the Cleveland Indians in the Bronx tonight. Ten piping hot pizzas from world-famous Goodfella's in Dongan Hills -- Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's favorite pizza parlor -- also hang in the balance, thanks to a little wager between Giuliani and Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White. If the Tribe takes all the marbles -- an outcome the mayor and every other right-thinking baseball fan views as highly unlikely -- White, a self-confessed pizza connoisseur, gets the pies and a few other items, including two tickets to the Metropolitan Opera, a Yankee cap and some Stella D'Oro pastries. Having heard about the way Goodfella's makes pizza -- even way out there in Cleveland -- White confesses that all that's on his mind now are those pies. "Hey, nothing tastes better than Goodfella's pizza and Indian victory," the Cleveland mayor volunteered last night. "My staff and I are waiting for those pies with mouths watering." Showing no lack of confidence in the Indians -- remember, they ousted the Yanks from the playoffs last year -- White boasted that he and his staff expect to be enjoying the pizzas, "as we watch our Tribe bring home the World Championship to Cleveland fans." Fat chance was Giuliani's well-considered assessment of Cleveland's prospects against the Yanks. He said the word "lose" is not part of his vocabulary right now. He's too focused on what he'll be getting when the Bombers take the seven-game series. Among the goodies: Five pounds of Polish sausage; two tickets to the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra; two tickets to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and a case of Dortmunder, the five-time award-winning beer from the Great Lakes Brewery. Last year, when Cleveland came out on top, the mayor, following through on a wager with White, was forced to send the Cleveland mayor a mess of striped bass he caught in the East River. Just for the record, Giuliani didn’t really catch the bass in the river. He bought them in a fish store and later pretended to catch them as the press looked on. White said last night he'd been greatly amused by the picture of the mayor "fishing" in the river. "Fortunately for both of us, there are no fish from the East River in this year's bet," White said. Giuliani has already collected on one baseball wager this year against Elzie Odom, the mayor of Arlington, Texas. When the Yanks knocked off the Rangers -- in a three-game sweep -- Odom was forced to give Giuliani a 1-gallon hat and some Texas barbecue. The Texas mayor must also wear a Yankee cap at a public event. E. Jay Myers, co-owner of Goodfella's, said last night he's proud City Hall selected his pizza to be part of the bet with Cleveland. "This was really all such a surprise," Myers said. "I was reading the papers this morning about the mayor's bet with the mayor of Arlington, Texas. I remember Giuliani saying he was not sure what he was going to wager against Cleveland." About an hour later, Myers' phone rang. It was City Hall asking if Goodfella's would be willing to put its pizza on the line for the honor of New York. "I said we'd be honored," Myers said. "Any time you can represent New York in the right way, that's a good thing." But Myers, with tongue firmly in cheek, said the fact that Goodfella's pizza is on the line might make Cleveland play harder. "But the Yanks are still going to take it," he said. |
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