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Yes, the last dozen years have been particularly painful for Baltimore Orioles fans, but as we observe the Thanksgiving Holiday we still have much to be thankful for.

As an Orioles fan for 40 years, I’ve compiled a list of the 10 things I think Orioles fans can be thankful for. If you are a fan of the Orioles, I’d welcome hearing other things you think we should appreciate during this time of thankful reflection.

Before they became a dysfunctional, injury-ridden 92-loss laughingstock, the New York Mets were actually not a bad team. Sure they had two consecutive meltdowns, one of colossal proportion, yet leaving room for hope until the bitter end, game No. 162.

It seems like ages ago, but the Mets were arguably the best team in baseball three short years ago, and fell a Carlos Beltran gapper short of a World Series berth. Also, remember that that team featured neither ace Johan Santana nor saves king Francisco Rodriguez.

Whether you've heard of him or not, Jason Heyward is good. Really good.

I suppose those of you who are still uninformed need an explanation.

Heyward, age 21, was born in McDonough, Georgia, also the hometown of outfielder Matt Murton. As the crow flies, The Geranium City, as McDonough is known, is just 27 miles away from Atlanta, home of the Braves.

With Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez's departures nearly a given in Atlanta, the Braves have to look towards the Free Agent market for their closer.

(Well, they don't have to, but who is going to trade away a legitimate closer this offseason?)

Names that jump out include Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney, and Jose Valverde.

But combinations of ability and contractual issues make these guys relatively poor fits.

One name that has been established through various media outlets for the Braves, though, is Billy Wagner.

The holiday season may be coming early for Red Sox Nation.

Or maybe, I should be saying: the Halladay season is coming early. The reports came out Tuesday from the New York Daily News that the Boston Red Sox were in strong pursuit of Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. The Daliy News stated that the Sox were "in a full court press" to get a deal done by the start of the winter meetings of baseball's general managers, which is set to begin on December 7th.

Thanksgiving Day has a very special meaning to me. Oh sure, there are family and friends and turkey and football. But that's a given.

However, in my life, Thanksgiving is all about baseball. It was on that day 24 years ago that I left the blizzards and barren trees, the yellow grass and the smoking chimneys of middle-America for Southern Florida and year-round Spring Training.

Thanksgiving is upon us once again.

We all know that Thanksgiving is supposed to be about families and turkeys and a rapidly-depleting supply of shopping days until Christmas, but—in the minds of baseball fans—Thanksgiving is just a pit stop between the end of awards season and the beginning of the Winter Meetings.

I’ve decided to combine the more traditional Thanksgiving festivities with my burning need for more baseball.

In doing so, I’ve created a list of things that the Twins have given me to be thankful for in 2009.

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• Delmon Young
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