Are the stakes rising in “Goatee Gamble,” or is the latest development just a “wimp-out clause?”

We’ve been closely following the baseball bet made over Twitter between ABC and NBC White House correspondents Jake Tapper and Chuck Todd– if the Dodgers win the National League Championship Series, Tapper grows a goatee and if the Phillies win, Todd shaves his (famous) goatee.

And then there was this tweet from Tapper’s ABC colleague Rick Klein, of “The Note” fame:

@thenote: BREAKING #goateegamble is a GO b/w @jaketapper and @chucktpolitical; facial hair based on NLCS results. BUT w/ 1K charity wimp-out clause

So game’s on, but if Todd just can’t part with his signature look or if pretty boy Tapper can’t grow an Ethan Hawke “Reality Bites” goatee, there’s a new back-out plan, a $1,000 donation paid by the losing correspondent to the winner’s choice of charity.