With Thanksgiving upon us, it is time for us to look back over the 2007 season and be thankful for several things that happened. The 2007 season was a wonderful one, so it’s going to be difficult to settle upon only the top five.

 I am thankful that… 

…Barry Bonds was indicted. Just months after breaking the alltime home run record previously held by Hank Aaron, perhaps one of the most gracious men to ever play the game of baseball, Bonds has been indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. If convicted on all counts, Bonds could be facing up to 30 years of jail time. This solidifies that no team will take a chance on signing him, which means 762 is the alltime home run record until Alex Rodriguez breaks it. Hopefully, if Bonds is found guilty, Bud Selig can erase some of Bonds’ stats, which would help major league baseball rid its sport of a scourge.

…small-market franchises were more visible in the postseason. We saw the Cleveland Indians make the postseason in the American League, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in the National League. David defeated Goliath when the Indians beat the Yankees in the first round and the Diamondbacks did the same to the Cubs and the Rockies beat the Phillies. A big-market franchise still won the World Series, but at least the little guys are having more of a chance. If this parity continues, it may be long before the little guys win the Fall Classic consistently.

…youth is being served. Justin Verlander and Clay Bucholz both threw no-hitters this year. Matt Holliday developed into a superstar player. Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Braun, and Dustin Pedroia were all rookie of the year candidates, but only two could have won the award. Jake Peavy won his first Cy Young Award; CC Sabathia did the same in the American League. Jimmy Rollins won an MVP award in the American League. The list could continue forever; a new generation of stars is beginning to take over Major League Baseball.

…the market for Alex Rodriguez completely fizzled out. Agent Scott Boras announced that Rodriguez was going to opt out of his 10 year, $252 million contract during Game 4 of the World Series. The move backfired, as Boras and Rodriguez took severe beatings from the timing of the announcement. And after going into the free agent market, Boras realized that no team was going to give his star client the $350 million he wanted. There would be no “mystery team” to get the bidding going. In the end, the two settled on a $275 million contract with the New York Yankees.

…the Mitchell Investigation is finally ready to release its findings. It was announced shortly after the World Series that former Sen. George Mitchell would submit his report sometime between then and the end of the year. While some may think of this as something that will ruin baseball, it gives fans a chance to learn who the cheaters were and just how corrupt our sport was during this time. We should be grateful that the Mitchell Investigation is going to name names, even if some of our favorite players are listed among them. This will go a long way toward cleaning up the game, as well as telling fans what from the steroid era was legitimate and what wasn’t.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites