I am Thankful…

Posted By on November 23, 2023

Why I am thankful (in no particular order):

  1. I am a fan of the greatest organization in baseball, and this is their best run… ever!
  2. There is no end in sight!
  3. My wife, who was an immigrant, has become the most independent woman I know.
  4. My three children have all grown into awesome adults.
  5. My six granddaughters and my first grandson (in the oven) are a joy.
  6. My health is incredible, and I look forward to going to the office every day now… at 70!
  7. My business wildly exceeded my expectations, and I am challenged every day.
  8. My employees – just the best in the business.
  9. I live in the best country in the World – it’s not perfect, but it’s great!
  10. LAdodgerTalk.com Family – You are the best…. even the morons! 😉
  11. Michael Norris/aka/Old Bear, for all his help and research.
  12. I am blessed beyond comprehension!

Some of it’s Magic and some of it’s Tragic… but I’ve had a great life all the way.

Happy Thanksgiving LA Dodger Fans!

I can’t guarantee a Championship, but I can guarantee we will be in for another Great Ride in 2024. I still miss my buddy, The Mighty Quinn. This is the first Thanksgiving in seven years without him.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

This article has 48 Comments

  1. A Happy Thanksgiving to you Mark, your family and all the participants of this Great Dodger site. I am truly thankful for being a small part of it. Everyone enjoy the day with family and friends and please NO politics.

  2. Happy Thanksgiving, Mark.
    Check your blog out every day.
    Lots of Dodger fans here in the Bluegrass where I live.
    Grace…

  3. THE ATHLETIC’s Jim Bowden has an article today that is very thought-provoking:

    Bowden: MLB teams — Think long and hard before signing a starting pitcher to a 9-figure deal

    https://theathletic.com/5082211/2023/11/22/signing-starting-pitcher-free-agency-risk-reward/?campaign=5888993&source=dailyemail

    It starts with this:

    The Rangers agreed to a five-year, $185 million deal with Jacob deGrom last offseason that covered the 2023-27 seasons. The righty made just six starts for Texas before needing Tommy John surgery, and he is not expected back until September 2024, when he’ll be 36 years old. At that point, the Rangers will have paid him about $70 million for the first two years of the contract and gotten two wins and 30 1/3 innings in return. Then they’ll have to hope he fully recovers from the second Tommy John surgery of his career. The two-time Cy Young Award winner could come back strong late next year and pitch well for the final three years of the contract, but the Rangers will in essence be paying him more than $60 million a season for the time when he is healthy, and that’s if everything goes well.

    1. My jaw dropped when the Rangers signed DeGrom. His injury history was already extensive. And they obviously didn’t need him to win the WS!

      AF won’t make the same mistake.

  4. Happy Thanksgiving Mark, and to all of our loyal posters. I am more than happy to do all I can to contribute to the site. And I totally agree with Mark that this is the most exciting era in Dodger history. Brooklyn fans would have loved a stretch like this. By the way Mark, it is often said that people own dogs who look just like them. I see you have not deviated from this! LOL.

      1. I know, that is why I said it. LOL. Hope you had a great holiday my friend. I just realized why I quit drinking. Butch and I have a tradition we have been doing ever since I moved here. On Thanksgiving Day, just prior to the meal, we have a shot of Wild Turkey. I don’t remember it burning as much going down as it did today. Wow.

  5. Happy Thursday to all the contributors on this blog. Appreciate the times you have with your loved ones. I will be spending a quiet day with the wife and cats. Good food, drink and football.

  6. There’s an interesting report that the Cubs explored trading for Bo Bichette.

    Would take a big haul, but seems to confirm he’s somewhat available.

    Probably doesn’t make the most sense for the Dodgers

  7. Happy Thanksgiving all.

    Mark, could you let Bulldogs and Penguins back on here for one day? I miss the Thanksgiving menu he posted every year. Nobody that eats that well can be all bad.

    1. STB – Happy Thanksgiving

      I can vouch for him – he’s a top guy.

      Also, hope you’re ok Patch if you’re reading this.

      To all you guys and girls on here, Happy Thanksgiving.

      It is a great festival that we don’t celebrate in the UK but we should.

      Being thankful for all we have is a much overlooked aspect, and it’s great to sometimes stop and remember how lucky we are.

      Have a great day.

      1. Thanks for your kind wishes, WD.
        And just because it isn’t official in the UK doesn’t mean you can’t give thanks for what you have today, or any day.
        None of us probably do that often enough. Thanks for the reminder.

        My nephew is taking a 3 week trip through the UK and is sending some glorious photos back. I’ve had the joy of spending a lot of time across the pond and I’m really missing it today.

        1. That’s good to hear, and it’s nice and cheap for you guys at the moment because the exchange rate is so good. We’ve actually got some decent weather.

          I keep hoping MLB will invite the Dodgers over for the summer series soon – a couple of games in London in mid June.
          It’s the Mets and Phillies in 24.
          Be good to see some of you guys over here because as you implied, there’s an awful lot to see and do.

          We are all lucky, there’s many worse places to be living at the moment than the US and UK.

          1. Happy Thanksgiving Watford. Hope you are well. Yeah, it would be cool to see the Dodgers got to England. But next year they get Seoul Korea for two games. A real shithole. At least it was when I was there.

  8. Projected 2024 lineup

    RF–Betts
    1B–Freeman
    C–Smith
    DH–Ohtani
    LF–Taylor
    3B–Muncy
    2B–Vargas
    CF–Outman
    SS–Lux

    No room for Busch but he’s traded for an SP or joins Deluca, Rojas & Barnes on bench.

    LF could be upgraded with FA RHH like Soler or Teoscar but we could also roll with what we have and focus improvements on pitching.

      1. Gotcha. He sounds good too. Could be a one-year trade option too with Pages ready in 2025.

        Still cant believe BA ranked Pages so high coming off injury

      1. I like it. Mark, you’re warming up to Ohtani beings a future Dodger.He will be under the Dodger Xmas tree very soon as a present from AF, BG and the entire ownership group.

  9. happiest of days everyone! thankful for family, freedom, country, and sports! bo bichette would be a knock out! sign ohthani or jd , acquire 2 starters and lets roll. chris taylor is a great bench piece. he is not an everyday player, he’s just not. i would sign either or both japanese pitchers. snell smells! a5 inning machine! also a walking machine. but it could happen. better we sign him and not the giants. please be safe and god bless you and your families! new year and eternal optimism for the boys in blue!

  10. Happy Thanksgiving from across the pond to everyone on LADT, especially Mark and his family.
    I know how you feel about your buddy, believe me. But he will always remain in your heart . The picture of him with one of your granddaughters made me almost cry.
    Ignited some memories of my own about the days when my daughter was still a baby and our Dalmatiner would not let any stranger get near her for less than 5 feet. Dog would always protect her .
    Special thought goes out to Quasimodo. I know he was very ill for some time and haven´t read anything from him in some time. Does anybody know how he is doing ?

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!

      1. Thank you and those for your kind thoughts. Didn’t and couldn’t find your email to me Mark. Without question you have always shown and even proven yourself as a real friend. While I’ve always enjoyed the Hot Stove in it’s making I’ve never had much input to it other than more pride in development rather than purchasing players. Sometimes a purchase scratches a hope wish but at the cost of a little guilt. Buying a team takes money, building a team takes skill. Letting the wind blow takes a lifetime.

  11. Happy Thanksgiving to all on here and to you Mark. Sorry for the issues we’re had, sure wasn’t planned that way. I am thankful for the time you and Bear put in on this place. Keep up the good work. Anyone who has or loves a dog is alright in my book

  12. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
    Thank you Mark and Bear for all the work you do to provide this great place.

    I hope that everyone has a wonderful day filled with love and family.

  14. We all have much to be thankful for! For me it begins with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for my beautiful wife of 43 years. And to AF for Ohtani, Yamamoto, Cease and a 24 WS title!

  15. Well,…I’m still standing and actually feeling pretty good, even cutting the grass that’s been growing in my head. (a couple here will get that one) So with all that I wish we all can see we started out champions and should be thankful for being put upon this wheel against unbelievable odds. Happy Thanks Giving Day friends!

    2. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and it’s especially nice to see a message from Quas.
      I have always been thankful to be a Dodger fan, even in the not-so-great times. I grew up about 5 miles from Angel Stadium, but they were always a distant No. 2. I loved the Lakers from the Jerry and Elgin days–but lost interest in basketball after moving overseas in 2010. And while I liked the Fearsome Foursome back in the ’60s, the Rams just never got me excited. (I think it was something about Roman Gabriel, the king of intentional grounding.)
      But from the days of Maury and Sandy and Big D, the Dodgers have always given me a reason to cheer. Always No. 1 in my heart, and no other team has really come close.
      Moving overseas oddly intensified my passion, partly because whatever time I put into other spectator sports was channeled to the Dodgers, digging into their prospects and eventually stumbling upon LADodgerTalk. The author of the Book of Moron has done a terrific job. And for that I am thankful.
      We still need to solve the Dodgers’ pitching problems, however.
      If you are going to give a fat, long-term contract to a pitcher, then why not target a 25-year-old ace with no serious injury history who says he’d like to come to the US and play alongside another Japanese player?
      Let’s go with a six-man rotation: Yamamoto, Cease, Buhler, Miller, Pepiot/Sheehan, Ryu.
      It would be fun to have Ryu back for another hurrah (perhaps not his last). Plus, he’s a lefty.

  16. Good to hear from you Quasimodo. Glad to hear that you’re doing well. Lets do another year of Dodger baseball together!

  17. Thank you Mark and Bear for doing this website.

    I got a pure black short hair female kitten on Tuesday. So I’m thankful for that. My previous cat I had for 19 years passed away in 2021, and it’s taken me this long to get another one because I was devistated.

    2. Congrats with the new kitten, cat lover here too. Got 3 fur-babies currently here and have had 6 others over the years so I know the pain of losing one.

    3. Labor of love Eric. Takes a lot of time and research when I am doing one on a former player, but I love it. I am so glad Mark asked me to do it a couple of years ago now.

  18. Mark, I appreciate you. You’re imperfect but you’re real. Raising a glass of ancient vine Ligurian vino bianco to you. Best to you and your family.

  19. I lost my dog Red four years ago this month. He was a Chiweeny. Great dog, and so fun to have. He died way too young. He was 5 1/2. Haven’t got the heart to have another pet that has to live in an apartment.

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