Frink: A Tale of Two Teams

Musings of an Aging Mind

By Jack Bagley

I’ve been enjoying the silence, to tell you the truth.
Baseball season has been underway for several weeks now, and there has been a blessed silence from that place in my mind where the Baseball Curmudgeon, Homer K. Frink, resides. I knew it was too good to last, but I was enjoying riding it out.
Now, however, Mr. Frink has clamored for attention, and we all know what is done with people who yell at clouds: give them some attention now and they go away for a while.
This column by Mr. Frink may irritate fans of two particular teams. I’m a fan of one of them and it riles the heck out of me.  But as I’ve said before, if you’re offended, simply consider the source.
Go ahead, Homer.  The floor is yours.
You keep using that tired old “consider the source” line, imagining it to be funny, don’t you?  Sheesh.
Yes, the 2025 baseball season is finally underway, and I want to talk about my two favorite teams. Okay, only one is my favorite; the other is this Bagley guy’s favorite, but since I have to use his hands to type, I’ll humor him and give his team some ink too.
But I will start with my favorite team, the Atlanta Braves.
What in the name of Abner Doubleday is wrong with that team? On the morning I’m scribbling this down, the Braves are the only team in Major League Baseball who haven’t managed to win a game. They have a perfect 0-7 record as this is being written, and all I can say is I hope that first number is a different one by the time this sees print. The Braves are already so far behind they need a telescope to see fourth place.
The last time the Braves got off to this lousy a start was 2016, when the dropped the first nine games of the season. It didn’t get much better after the first win, either, because they finished the year with a 68-93 record.
Now, if you listen to the pundits, there’s still time to salvage a good season. It’s only April, after all, and there’s a long way to go until September, when things really mean business. Team fortunes rise and fall during the heat of summer battle on the diamond, who knows what the future will bring, a lot can happen by the trade deadline, and all that other nonsense.
They were saying the same stuff in 2016, you know, and the Braves didn’t salvage much that year.
Of course, it could be worse, much worse.  It could be 1988 again, when the team started 0-10 and finished up 54-106, 39 and a half games out of first place in the NL West, and went through two managers – Chuck Tanner and Russ Nixon.
Speaking of managers, I would venture to guess that if things don’t get better for the Atlanta boys soon, Brian Snitker is going to be looking for a new job.
Injuries, bad trades, and general malaise seem to be having a major impact on the Braves, and I hope there’s time to steer them back on course to at least a respectable season, not another repeat of 1988.
The other team to mention here is, of course, Bagley’s beloved Chicago Cubs. They opened the season in Japan against the Los Angeles Dodgers and dropped their two games in Tokyo, then came back – and resumed spring training.
I wish someone would explain to me how that works – two games that actually count during the time when no games actually count. Since this current Commissioner has been in office, there’s a lot of stuff in my favorite sport that doesn’t make much sense.
The Cubs looked like they were going to lead the way to a lousy season, losing two out of four to the Diamondbacks out in Arizona.  But then it all came together in Sacramento when they took on the Athletics, and scored 35 runs in three games, limiting the hapless A’s to a measly nine tallies. As this is written the Cubs are 5-4 and in second place in the NL Central.
Off season trades have had an impact on the Cubs as well. They sent away some of the better young players in the system, lost their main gate draw Cody Bellinger to the Yankees, and have struggled to find just the right lineup. Over those games with the A’s, however, I think they found a winning combination.
So what’s going on, sports fans?  Why are the Braves falling flat on their tomahawks while the Cubs are sharpening their claws?
It’s still early. It’s April. There’s a long way to go until September, when things really mean business.  Team fortunes rise and fall during the heat of summer battle on the diamond.  Who knows what the future will bring?  A lot can happen by the trade deadline.
Hmmm … where have I heard that before?