Yes, I made today’s issue of The New York Times. Page A-32.

The old-time print version, baby.

That’s the good news.

The bad news?

I wanted to write a lengthy blog post about it, but it’s been too busy today, all because I made The New York Times.

As we get ready for the start of the National League and American League Championship Series, some interesting odds coming out of Las Vegas…

Looks as though most people are betting on a World Series featuring the New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.

At Bergino, we turn to the wisdom of Ricky Roma, an all-time great David Mamet character.  As Roma says in Glengarry Glen Ross: “I subscribe to the law of contrary public opinion.  If everyone thinks one thing, then I say, bet the other way.”

You got it.  I’m going with a Philadelphia Phillies vs. LA Angels World Series.

Following is a guest post written by our friend, the comedian Steve Mittleman…

I’m a lifetime New York Mets fan.  My son, his best friend and his best friend’s dad also lifetime Mets fans.  So we drove to see the Mets and Johan Santana yesterday in San Diego, as we have the last few years.  We got seats in the shade – which meant for us the right field bleachers.  From our vantage point we had a dead center view of the Mets dugout.  

They all deserve to be reprimanded for lack of professional behavior.  Granted, they pitched well and had some clutch hitting.  I take nothing away from that effort.  But, on the field, they just played it out.  If the chips fell into place, they were going to win one… (out of four).  They (and the Padres) stunk up the joint.  Sporadic effort at best.  They deserve to refund the fans.  Two teams with (in their minds) nothing to play for?  How about playing for the fans.  How about acting like they care.  What a waste of money.  I have never hated a bunch of primadonas like I now hate the Mets.   We (the two dads) spent $40 on tickets, $40 on food and $15 on parking, plus gas.  Not to mention the two and a half hours each way from LA.  It’s all relative – money is money is money.

I know I’m venting here, but there’s a drop more:  I noticed a foul ball hit into the Mets dugout — not one player moved or flinched or went to grab it or reacted in anyway — it was like watching a bunch of mannequins.  This was reflected on the field and it says a lot about their season.

Finally… Celebration-Gate:  When the last out was made, the bench just sat there — versus of course being excited about a victory and maybe even about not being swept.  They sat there. They paused and they reluctantly (very reluctantly) went on the field to do the high five with their teammates who just closed out the win.  They just sat there till they realized, “hey, we won, oh s**t that means I have to act like I care and move my over-priced ass up out of the dugout and show some life on the field.”   It’s no coincidence that when I mentioned I noticed this to my buddy Chuck, he said, “I noticed it, too.”  

The whole team, maybe organization, is a cancer in the clubhouse.  Pathetic.

Steve Mittleman is a wonderful comedian of some notoriety (over 90 TV appearances).  If you’re interested in hiring a sure-fire funny man for events — or just want to laugh — check out his website: SteveMittleman.com

On Thursday, July 3oth, Luis Castillo, the New York Mets starting second baseman, and his wife, Angie, became the proud parents of a 7-pound, 4-ounce baby girl.

The little lovely’s name?

Adonai.

Adonai Castillo.

Seriously.

And all along I always thought Adonai was a boy’s name.  Who knew?

We’ve been searching for a photo of the little girl, but have been unable to unearth the coveted first look.  In the meantime, this will have to do…

As the tag line reads, the Bergino blog is about Baseball.  And Life.

Today’s post has nothing to do with Baseball.  And everything to do with Life.

Tom Friedman is truly one of the great writers working today.  Whatever your politics may be, the man is a Hall of Famer.  Three Pulitzer Prizes.  That’s Sandy Koufax territory.  (Okay, I guess today’s post had to throw in a little baseball after all.)

Mr. Friedman wrote an op-ed column in today’s New York Times.  It is, simply, beautiful.  

Enjoy…

A-Rod.

Manny.

Multi-millionaires.

Liars.

Cheats.

Frauds.

American.

Indeed.

We’ve never believed in tooting our own horn.  Over the years, we have put extreme effort into simply making a beautiful, handmade item, and then offering it to America at a fair price.  By doing so, we’ve gotten a fair amount of publicity.  But, sometimes, things happen and they deserve a toot.

I mean, come on, when I started this company I never figured we’d make the pages of Playboy.  I envisioned the possibility of us being featured in such places as the Baseball Hall of Fame, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the Museum of Arts & Design.  That all happened.  But, Playboy?!  Well, there we are, on page 23 of this month’s issue.  

A few pages after quite a nice photo of the alluring British actress Emily Blunt… and a few pages before Aleksandra Eriksson, a 19-year-old Swedish Supermodel (need I say more?), you’ll find the Constitution Baseball, handmade by Bergino.

Check it out.  You’ve now got a helluva excuse to run out and buy Playboy.

This Hugh Hefner guy… genius.  Toot!

As a die-hard New York Mets fan, I did some quick research into the availability of Mets tickets in Bailout CitiField.  Let’s take a look…

It’s currently 42 degrees, on a rainy March afternoon in the City of New York, so my mind wanders to a summer weekday afternoon at the ballpark.  Not many places in the world I’d rather be.

Wednesday, April 29 at 1:10 p.m.  Mets vs. Florida Marlins in New York.  Shallow left field, 5th row.  $135 per ticket.

Thursday, June 4 at 12:35 p.m.  Mets vs. Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh.  Just beyond the infield dirt in shallow right field, 8th row.  $26 ticket.

$135 to see the Mets at home vs. $26 to see them on the road?  Are you kidding me?  Yo, Wilpon, what’s up?

The afternoon of April 29th.  I’m not sure where I’ll be.  But I know for sure where I won’t be.

P.S. — One other note… I can hear you already.  How dare you compare the Mets to the Pirates?  One plays in a big market.  One has a huge payroll.  Yada, yada.  Okay, so I did some quick research into, let’s see, the Philadelphia Phillies and their ticket prices.  How much for a comparable seat, you ask?  How about $39.  That’s right. $39.

Philadelphia and New York.  Big markets.  Big payrolls.  Great ballparks.  Just one difference.  There’s a championship flag fluttering in the breezes of the City of Brotherly Love.

Yo, Wilpon, how about taking off the shades, look us in the eye, and tell it to us straight?

After an extensive search, we’ve found A-Rod’s mysterious cousin . . .

Last week, Jeff Wilpon, an owner of the New York Mets, was on the telephone when his father and fellow team owner, Fred, tried to reach him.  Jeff usually asks his father if he can call him right back.  For the first time ever, his father said no.

“Bernie has been arrested,” his father told him.

There has been plenty already written — and surely truckloads of words yet to come — about one of the all-time great shysters, Bernard Madoff.  If there were a Hall of Fame for the lowest level of humanity, this guy Madoff is a first ballot inductee.

Then I read a little story that Bernard Madoff is not only a close friend and trusted investment advisor to Fred Wilpon, but a New York Mets season ticket holder, too.  Two tickets.  $495 per seat.  $990 a game.  Only $80,190 for the season.  Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Why am I not surprised.  Given the price of season tickets in the new New York ballparks, who else could afford it?  

Look to your left, look to your right, hold on to your wallet, you never know who may be sitting next to you at Citi Field next season.  Then again, it’s probably not this schmuck.  He may be spending the summer far away from the green grass, Citibank billboards, and fresh air of Flushing, New York.  Madoff may be in a little prison cell, having to call on his memory and imagination to conjure up what’s taking place on the diamond of his beloved Mets.  Maybe Fred and Jeff Wilpon can give him the happy recap during a conjugal visit.

After all, Bernie has been arrested.