April is upon us, and spring is beginning to show its face. It is time to think green, time for Easter lilies, and time for the arrival of the traditional Easter Bunny. Most importantly, Easter is a time to reflect on our sacrifices and focus on living more like the example Christ set for us. As we look back this month, please enjoy this “Editor Speaks” article from our beloved Paul Sciria from 2016. He may be gone but he’s never forgotten.
Each month, the La Gazzetta team strives to bring you the latest in news and content from here AND from Italy. We are always looking for writers to help spread the news. If you are interested in writing for us, please contact us. You can write for every issue, or just one! To learn more about this, please email our editor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
La Gazzetta is online! We encourage you to subscribe today. Please visit our website at www.lagazzettaitaliana.com. We appreciate your feedback. On behalf of the staff at La Gazzetta, we wish all of you a blessed Easter. Buona Pasqua!
It’s finally springtime and I give global warming a B for a “not so bad” winter. The April showers and warming temperatures that bring May flowers melted what little snow was left and the grass has turned from its grainy and ivory/brown color to what I choose to call a spectacular Irish green. That means weed and grass cutting time, but that beats cold temperatures and shoveling snow.
Springtime also means gardening and I have to decide what seeds and vegetable plants will dominate my home garden. Naturally I do my tomatoes (Beefsteak, Roma and San Marzano), some Kentucky Wonder green beans, my tasty summer/fall Swiss Chard with ivory-like stalks, some Black Magic Zucchini, and a couple of those Sicilian zucchini (the kind where the vines climb up nearby trees and are long enough to hide the dangling baseball bat).
But springtime is more than cutting grass, raising gardens and chasing off deer, it’s also a time to take in the joys of major league baseball. I go as far back as League Park when Hal Trosky (#7) used to hit line drives over the right field fence onto Lexington Ave. If anyone retrieved the ball those days, they got a free ticket to a game, just like we got for perfect school attendance. In the passing years, switching over to what was the mostly empty lakefront Municipal Stadium, I cheered on Tribe greats like Rapid Robert Feller, Bob Lemon, Mike Garcia, and Early Wynn. No one counted their pitches up to 100 and brought in relievers, Mossi or Narleski. They pitched against real superstars who, if they were playing today, the owners wouldn’t have enough money to pay them. In today’s dollars, I wonder what the paychecks would be for the likes of “Jolting Joe” DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, “Splendid Splinter” Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, “Hammering” Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers, Stan “The Man” Musial of the St. Louis Cards, and, of course, Tribe Hall of Famer Bob Feller.
Springtime is the perfect time to start with an entirely fresh outlook on life. Be thankful to take in the fresh air, warmer temperatures, weeding and cutting the grass, and recalling memories and enjoying a ballgame. See! It’s great to be alive even if it’s the bottom of the seventh of our lifetime!
