Plenty of reasons to be thankful

There are plenty of reasons I'm thankful this time of year. For the purpose of this blog, we'll stick to the baseball-related reasons.

There's the new crop of young stars. Troy Tulowitzki, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun and Hunter Pence all gave us reason to smile this season.

Parity's coming. Little by little. Yes the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets and Cubs can outspend nearly everyone in baseball, but success stories like the Rockies offer hope -- and a blueprint -- for the less fortunate franchises.

The old guard not going quietly. Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz are still playing. Whoulda thunk it about five years ago? Lest we not include the position players, there's Julio Franco, who I think was around for the original Thanksgiving.

Finally, labor peace and record-setting attendance. Who says baseball can't get anything right anymore?