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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2008 > April > 02 > Entry
sure signs of springtime
It was raining Monday night when I noticed something moving on the sidewalk. A toad! A sure sign of spring.
Today I saw a butterfly. Definitely springlike this afternoon.
Pedro Martinez the oft injured New York Mets pitcher started his first game of the season the other day and quickly left the game with an injury. Spring is here!
David Ortiz the Boston Red Sox slugger crushed his first home run of the season this afternoon in Oakland. Ah, spring.
The Big Read is underway! The featured book is FUNNY IN FARSI by Firoozeh Dumas. I’m reading the sequel, LAUGHING WITHOUT AN ACCENT. It must be spring….
How can you tell it is spring? The first dandelion? The robins? Bock beer?
What are the signs that you watch for to know that spring has sprung?
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (20) | Post your comment | Categories: scribbles and scraps
Comments
By Sharon
June 14, 2008 11:55 PM | Link to this
Nice good blog!By victor mickunas
May 1, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this
one more sign: the New York Yankees finished April with a losing record. haha!By victor mickunas
April 22, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
One more sign: a Steinbrenner whine. Now Hank Steinbrenner is blaming the Yankees’ mediocre play on not having Joba Chamberlain in their starting rotation. I hope they put Joba in as a starter, that way he will have thrown out his arm by August.By victor mickunas
April 19, 2008 5:36 AM | Link to this
One more sign: Big Papi has his first grand salami of the season at Fenway after a slow start at the plate…By victor mickunas
April 18, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
Last night Manny crushed 2 HRs at Yankee Stadium: “That gave the slugger, who likes to admire his prodigious drives, five homers this season — three in six days off Mussina (1-3). It also gave Ramirez 13 hits in his past 26 at-bats against Mussina, with four homers and 11 RBI. “He’s pretty good, huh?” Beckett said. “Hopefully, he’ll invite me to his Hall of Fame speech.” (quoted from CBS Sports)By victor mickunas
April 14, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this
Here’s another sign of spring: the Yankees head in to Fenway and A-Rod can’t buy a hit. Ah, spring!By prose
April 13, 2008 12:33 PM | Link to this
Although, I share his name, I remember the guy when he was hitting 30 triples in a single season for minor league Tampa. You seem to be fishing here so I’ll bite. I believe he DOES deserve to be in the HOF. Better the guy who did his time and paid for his crime than dozens of racist, shameless gamblers, one who even jumped the fence to beat a quadraplegic senseless like Ty Cobb did. All you do is draw attention to the hypocritical, craggy old bastards of baseball’s elite running the HOF (and major league baseball in general). Cap Anson, Happy Chandler, Joe Cronin and many others don’t deserve HOF status based upon what they did and believed but they’re members. Like most heroes, try not to look too close. Nice try…I still believe the hit king will make the HOF…posthumously.By victor mickunas
April 13, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this
Pete Rose, I remember that Gahan Wilson cartoon. The savages were worshipping a giant stone carving of the letter “N.” The captured explorer sees it and says “is nothing sacred?” Now if the letters were “NY” I would be forced to agree with you. I do agree that Ron Santo belongs in the HOF. With a name like Pete Rose I must admit astonishment that you said nothing about your namesake??By prose
April 13, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this
Further signs the apocalypse is upon us, Victor gleefully quoting NY sportswriters! As Gahan Wilson said “Is nothing sacred?”By prose
April 13, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this
They said the same thing about McGwire, Palmeiro, Rocket, and many others. At a speech in Des Moines this spring, Tony Gwynn a real hero and role model said it best. “No matter what I did, and the other greats I played with did, we’ll all be remembered as members of the steroid generation, the streoid class of baseball history, and nothing we say or do can or will change that. Right or wrong that’s the way it is.”Sad, so sad, but true. But, it was a nice touch about the construction worker burying a Boston jersey in the concrete at the new Yankee orifice..er I mean edicfice. Hope it cracks the foundation. If the Hall of Fame was about justice, Santo would already be enshrined. Sorry, for me it now takes more than 500 dingers, x-rbi, x-hits to make the case. Shoeless Joe was acquitted and he’s not in. Why should I give a crap about Manny?By victor mickunas
April 13, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
Pete, yesterday Manny Ramirez was a one man wrecking crew, crushing a home run and a double to drive in the runs that beat the Yankees. Here is how the NY Times described Manny hitting: “An errant fastball to a likely Hall of Famer ruined the day.” Even the sportwriters in New York agree with me; Manny is destined for the HOF.By victor mickunas
April 6, 2008 5:39 PM | Link to this
The Cubs played the Red Sox (as you know) in that World Series long ago that was the last WS victory for the Red Sox…until 2003. In the pivotal 7th game the Red Sox pitcher twirled a gem to beat the Cubs hurler Hippo Vaughan. The BoSox pitcher was a southpaw, some kid named George Herman Ruth. You might know him as The Babe.By prose
April 6, 2008 3:49 PM | Link to this
It’s possible. Any team that tears down historic Yankee Stadium to build a billion dollar duplicate is probably run by a government agency. We can disagree about a lot but Wrigley Field & Fenway Park remain the cathedrals of baseball. Deep in your BoSox heart I believe you secretly root, as I do, for a Cubs v. Red Sox fall classic. Say it ain’t so..By victor mickunas
April 6, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this
I would love it if the Yankees paid an over-the-hill Manny way too much money to play when is 45 or so..he did grow up in New York.By prose
April 6, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this
Okay, bet on non-gambler. But if history repeats itself (as it often does), will your beloved Manny be wearing Yankee pinstripes like Ruth, Roger the Rocket, et al?By victor mickunas
April 6, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this
Well, Pete Rose…I’m not a gambling man but I would be willing to wager that Manny Ramirez is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, whenever that is, five years after he retires. I would sweeten that bet by saying that Manny will be in the HOF before the Chicago Cubs win another world series…100 years of being cursed won’t end any time soon. I know, my Red Sox went 86 years without winning one. Manny was a big part of the BoSox revival and he was crucial to the Red Sox World Championships last year and in 2004. The Cubbies? (chortle)By prose
April 6, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this
Gasp..choke..Manny a first ballot HOF?! Cubs win back-to back World Series, Santo elected to Hall, George W. & Rev. Wright win Nobel Peace Prize, U.S. dollar hits all-time high. Just clutch your breast and say “Yes We Can!” Whatever happened to Jim Rice?By victor mickunas
April 5, 2008 4:14 PM | Link to this
Well, Pete…Manny may be slow and he lulls baserunners into complacency while every year he is among the league leaders in outfield assists. I saw Manny in Chicago facing the White Sox a couple of years ago. A ball was hit over his head. He completely misplayed it. After the play ended Manny turned around to admire his miscue on the JumboTron. When Manny is eligible for the Hall of Fame he will be elected on the first ballot. No steroids, just Manny being Manny. Don’t let him fool you. It takes hard work to be one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game.By prose
April 4, 2008 9:12 PM | Link to this
Where I live it snowed yesterday, but I did see a robin. Hope springs eternal, then it happened. I was watching your beloved Bosox and there was a sure sign of Spring. The insanely overpaid rasta of baseball and overall lead gloved, sure-footed (read slow) Manny Ramirez, watching, no staring at his mighty blast to centerfield land at the foot of the wall. Yes, this clod turned an inside the park homerun into a double by selfishly admiring his batted ball not reach the stands. Instead of booing his lack of hustle the fans cheered. Forget the team, it’s all about the egotistical gazillionaire and the mating ritual with his virtual fans. Boy, in my day he’d be running laps after the game. Now, he’s running his mouth in incoherent blathering to a press corps of purported baseball beat writers too shallow or afraid to raise Manny’s ire. Afraid to call it the way it was. Bush. And I don’t mean George W. This time.By Barbara Delaney
April 3, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this
The forsythia is blooming, and here in the Ohio Valley we’ve stopped thinking about snow storms and started thinking about tornado season..today is the anniversary of the 1974 tornado.