Buckner to skip Rox

Bill Buckner long since has come to terms with . . . well, you know what. Among other things, he said, “Card shows paid for my kids’ college education. I deserved something out of it, right?’’

Now 25 years after . . . well, you know what, he is preparing for an entirely new professional baseball experience, managing the independent Brockton (Mass.) Rox.

“I thought it would be fun,’’ Buckner, 61, said. “I still have a lot of good friends in that area, and the fans there were good to me.’’

Buckner, who lives in Idaho, was in New York Tuesday for an event promoting an MSG series about the 1986 Mets that will run March 1-4. He said he has no trouble discussing, um, his past in the city.

“To me, it’s just baseball history,’’ he said. “It’s not a bad thing. It’s something that happened . . . A lot more people know who I am now because of what happened and say, ‘He was a pretty good player.’

“It’s amazing it’s lasted this long. I got to a point where I said, hey, it’s not going away so deal with it and make it a positive.’’