Thanksgiving in Birdland - 2011

I've been writing a yearly Thanksgiving post here at Camden Chat for some time, and every time when I start out I'm not sure what I'm thankful for (other than Matt Wieters of course). I would imagine if you're a fan of a team that wins even once every, oh, decade or so, it might be easier to find things about your team to be thankful for. But here in Birdland we have to work for it.

First, the ooey gooey stuff. I'm so thankful that I ended up in the right place at the right time to inherit this amazing blog. Even though sometimes some of you make me want to bang my head against the wall, I'm thankful for everyone who contributes here. Whether you're a front page writer like Andrew_G or Eat More Esskay, a semi-retired but still opinionated mod like duck or zknower, a potty mouth who likes to stir up trouble like O'sFan21, someone who I know will complain if I don't mention him like daveh873, or someone whose name I don't even know who stops by to read us on a regular basis, you are a part of the Camden Chat family and as such part of the reason that we're the best Orioles site on the web.

As for the actual team, well that's a bit trickier. There is Matt Wieters, who has gone from an overhyped prospect to a struggling young player to a blooming star in the past few seasons. I'm definitely thankful for what he brings to this team, and I feel like I'm part of a special club because I get to see him play every day during the season.

I'm also thankful for a fresh start. In the back of my mind I can't be totally excited for any front office changes because I know the owner is still the same. That's especially true after the GM hiring shenanigans that took place last month, but I'm thankful that we have a new face in Dan Duquette, who I know will do his best to turn this franchise around. Andy MacPhail gave it his best, I'm sure, but he'll go down in history in the long line of failures at the top for the Orioles. Dan Duquette comes to our misfit team as something of an outcast himself, so maybe it'll actually be a good fit. It will be interesting to watch him attempt to rebuild this team.

And while our minor league system doesn't match up with others in our division, I'm thankful for Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop and Dylan Bundy. I'm happy to have a young pitching stud back in the minors so that I can eagerly look for his pitching line every five days. Those are good times, don't you think?

Happy Thanksgiving, Camden Chatters. I look forward to an exciting off season with you and I know by the time April rolls around we'll all be seeing the world through our orange-tinted glasses, and it'll be awesome for a little while.