MLB

EX-YANK BYRNE DIES AT 87

When Tommy Byrne is buried in North Carolina on Thursday, the left-handed pitcher who was also a solid hitter will have a Yankees cap on his head.

“Being a Yankee was his lifelong dream,” John Byrne, Tommy Byrne’s son, said last night from North Carolina.

“His childhood hero was Babe Ruth and the last game Babe Ruth played at Yankee Stadium was an [Old Timers’ game] and he used my dad’s glove. He played with [Joe] DiMaggio, [Mickey] Mantle, [Yogi] Berra and a lot of other great players.”

Byrne, who had two stints with the Yankees (1943-51; 1954-57) died of congestive heart failure Thursday morning in the town of Wake Forest, N.C. He would have been 88 New Year’s Eve.

“Our family was there with our pastor, it was precious,” said John Byrne, the mayor of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., who wears his father’s 1950 World Series ring. Tommy Byrne was an All-Star that season.

When Brooklyn rookie Johnny Podres launched a career in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series by beating the Yankees, 2-0, with a complete-game effort, Byrne was the Yankees’ starter and loser in that tilt. Byrne was the winning pitcher in Game 2, going the distance and limiting the Dodgers to five hits in a 4-2 Yankees victory.

“He was a better pitcher when he came back from the minors with a slider [in 1954]. He had better control after that,” Berra recalled last night. “He lost a tough one in 1955. He was a very good hitter. Casey [Stengel] used him as a pinch-hitter. He was a good guy, a good golfer and a good friend.”

Byrne, an 85-69 pitcher in 13 seasons, also hit .238 with 14 homers and 98 RBIs in 601 big league at-bats. His best season was 1955 when he went 16-5 with a 3.15 ERA.

Don Zimmer, who was the Dodgers’ starting second baseman in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series, remembered Byrne as a two-way threat.

“He was a good pitcher and a helluva hitter,” Zimmer said.

In 12 career at-bats against Byrne, Ted Williams went 0-for-7 with five walks and a strikeout.

george.king@nypost.com