Nats, Garrett start holiday season by giving back

Stone Garrett Turkeypalooza

The 2023 holiday season officially kicked off yesterday with Thanksgiving, but the Nationals got a head start to the season of giving earlier this week.

This week Washington Nationals Philanthropies hosted Turkeypalooza, its now sixth annual food distribution event across the D.C. area.

“Turkeypalooza is an annual event that Washington Nationals Philanthropies hosts, in partnership with BetMGM now for the second year,” said Tal Alter, CEO of Nationals Philanthropies. “We're going to distribute 900 turkeys over the next few days, which means 3,600 different meal units being presented to members of the community who are unfortunately food insecure. At this time of year, it's just incredibly important for everyone to be able to celebrate the holidays with dignity, and food is the fundamental piece of that.”

The event started on Monday in front of the BetMGM sportsbook outside Nationals Park with volunteers handing out turkeys and bags filled with shelf-stable items and fresh produce. Nats outfielder Stone Garrett was even in attendance to help out with the distribution.

“Our fans support us all season long, so to give back to the community, it means a lot,” Garrett said. “It means a lot, especially during the holiday season.”

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O's fans can be thankful for a team that got to the top of the AL East

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and fans of this blog today and I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends. Hope everything on your plate is hot and delicious.

But the topic here is always baseball and the Orioles and O’s fans have a lot to be thankful for this year.

How about a playoff team, 101 wins and an AL East championship. The 2023 season was an amazing ride, one that started with the Tampa Bay Rays lapping the field and winning all the time. But they struggled badly in July and the Orioles gained about six games or so in the standings pretty quickly to pass them.

The club took the Rays’ best shots and stayed on top. Even when Tampa Bay came to town in mid September and took the first two games of a four-game series. That moved the Rays into a first-place tie with the Orioles. But on a Saturday night at Camden Yards, with first-place riding, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez pitched eight scoreless in an 8-0 win. The next day the O’s won a wild one in 11 innings to clinch a playoff berth and touch off a wild celebration.

They went 9-5 down the stretch after the Rays tied them atop the division and they answered the Rays’ first two wins in that series in Baltimore with four straight wins – two over Tampa Bay and two at Houston. It was their greatest chance to crack under the pressure on the year and they did not. Four straight wins against playoff clubs.

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Reasons for Nats fans to be thankful in 2023

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Happy Thanksgiving, Nationals fans!

To celebrate the holiday, I’m going to take a break from my usual prospect reviews (there are only seven left!) and look back on the 2023 year for reasons the Nats and you should be thankful.

Is a 71-91 season reason to celebrate? Of course not. But the organization did make some significant strides in this crucial rebuilding year.

Let’s start with that final record. Although still 20 games under .500, it was a 16-game improvement from the dreadful 55-107 record in 2022.

While still a last-place finish, their fourth in a row since winning the 2019 World Series, many outlets had the Nats barely winning 60 games at the beginning of the season. Eclipsing 70 wins was a major step forward for the major league club, setting up higher expectations for 2024.

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Some Orioles-related reasons to be thankful

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A kind world would make carving reminiscent of turkeys on the Thanksgiving table rather than Nathan Eovaldi facing the Orioles in the Division Series. But gentle isn’t always an option.

Let’s keep it brief today. Like saying grace. Expressing your gratitude without letting the gravy get cold and develop that skin on the surface.

Orioles fans should be thankful for a 2023 season that probably exceeded their wildest expectations.

A record above .500? Optimists were on it. Making the playoffs? Not beyond the realm of possibility after the club went 83-79 the previous summer.

Posting the best record in the American League to win the division and earn a first-round bye? Crazy talk until it happened.

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Searching for reasons Nats fans can be thankful this year

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Finding something to be thankful about the Washington Nationals this year? Seriously?

Yes, seriously.

Maybe it wasn’t the best year in Nationals history. OK, actually it was officially the worst season in Nationals history, with not only a club record 107 losses but the trade of Juan Soto, the continued injury woes of Stephen Strasburg and the pending sale of the franchise by the Lerner family.

But even with all that negativity, there are still some things to be thankful for right now, if you look hard enough.

Like a restocked farm system that no longer ranks among the worst in baseball. In particular, there’s some legitimate outfield depth in the organization now, from Robert Hassell III to James Wood to Elijah Green to Cristhian Vaquero to Jeremy De La Rosa.

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What's on your Black Friday wish list for the Nats?

What's on your Black Friday wish list for the Nats?
It's Black Friday, and that can only mean one thing: It's time to start crossing items off your holiday shopping list. Far be it from us to try to tell you what you should be buying your significant other, your child or your other loved ones this year. But around here, we do like to put together wish lists for roster needs. So let's think about what's on the Nationals' wish list this year. It's not the same kind of list they've put together in recent years. They don't have one or two...
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Finding reasons to be thankful in spite of a difficult season

Finding reasons to be thankful in spite of a difficult season
Are we really going to try to find something to be thankful about the 2021 Nationals? Yes, yes we are. That's what this day is all about. It may seem like a daunting task, looking for silver linings in a 97-loss season that included injuries, agonizing losses and emotional departures of some beloved players. But if you dig a little deeper, think a little more critically, you can indeed find reasons to be thankful. For starters, we all got to attend baseball games in person again this year. We...
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What item should top Nats' offseason wish list?

What item should top Nats' offseason wish list?
Thanksgiving weekend, of course, marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season, though obviously this year is a little bit different from the norm. Black Friday did take place, but it wasn't nearly the spectacle it usually is, and for good reason. Baseball's shopping season also is different this year. We've already seen how slow the market has been to develop, and it's probably going to remain that way for a while, at least until clubs know what exactly the 2021 season is going...
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Even in 2020, much to be thankful for today

Even in 2020, much to be thankful for today
This traditionally is a day to take a step back and appreciate what we have in our lives, big and small, and give thanks for it. But this year? What are we supposed to be thankful for in November 2020? Actually, there's a lot. Though this certainly has been among the most trying years any of has ever experienced, there have been some silver linings. Block out the big ugly things, if you can, and think about the little things we were treated to this year. We got to watch a baseball season. No,...
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What's your Black Friday wish list for the Nationals?

What's your Black Friday wish list for the Nationals?
It's Black Friday, aka the busiest shopping day of the year. If you're into waking up at 3 a.m. and physically fighting with strangers over a discounted toaster oven, that is. But, hey, some people live for this stuff. They have a few items they absolutely must buy, and this is the best deal they're ever going to find on them. So traditional manners need not apply. In that spirit, we're opening up the floor to all of you today. What's your must-have gift for the Nationals this winter? Is...
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What the Nationals are thankful for this year

What the Nationals are thankful for this year
There's a lot of reason to be upset with the world right now, but - believe it or not - there's a lot more reason to be happy. I often remind myself of this. There's way more good than bad in the world, way more good people than bad people. We only hear about the bad stuff more. And so on this Thanksgiving, it seems like the right time to remind ourselves of the good things in our lives. So I called up a bunch of Nationals players and other club personnel and asked them to share what...
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What the Nationals are thankful for today

What the Nationals are thankful for today
It's a tumultuous time in the world, but today we all pause to spend time with family and friends and appreciate what we have. That applies to the Nationals, as well. (Hey, these guys are human beings. They have feelings, too!) And so in honor of this fourth Thursday of November, we present to you what each of the following Nats are most thankful for right now. (These are 100 percent accurate, I assure you. I would never make up fake news just to get readers riled up!) ... MAX SCHERZER: For...
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