The start of the 2024 Major League Baseball season has arrived. It’s a time that fans revere, especially in cold, gray northern cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. For three Illinois State University School of Kinesiology and Recreation alums, each new baseball season holds a special meaning. The game means a lot to them too because, for these Redbirds, baseball is more than a passion … it’s the job of a lifetime.
Nick Frangella ’04 landed a dream internship as he was finishing up his bachelor’s degree at Illinois State.
A first-generation college graduate from Oak Forest, the internship eventually turned into an offer of full-time employment, and he hasn’t looked back. This is the start of his 21st season as a member of the athletic training staff for the Chicago Cubs. This will be his second season as head athletic trainer, and he never tires of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the start of a new season—even when the opener is on the road.
“We start in Texas, and we’ll watch the Rangers get their World Series rings on Opening Day and wish it was us,” Frangella said. “You always get chills. It doesn’t matter where you are. It’s a full stadium of fans rooting for their team.”
Frangella has had some pretty well-known baseball people influence him during his career.
“When I got here, Dusty Baker was the manager, then Joe Maddon, then Rossy (David Ross), and now we have Craig Counsel,” Frangella said. “I’ve been really lucky to be around some of the best in the game.”
He got off to a good start at Illinois State with several key people who made a lasting impact on him. One was former head athletic trainer Kathy Schniedwind, a member of the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame.
“I was one of her last students and worked football with her in 2001,” he said. “I was so influenced by her in the clinical setting, just watching how she went about her business. She was a huge influence.”
Frangella added that John Munn, Illinois State’s current head athletic trainer, was a big influence and someone he still shares ideas with. Same goes for Bill Kauth ’88, M.S. ’90, Ed.D. ’01, athletic trainer at Illinois Wesleyan University, who is someone he remains in touch with.
“Todd McLoda was our program director, so from an educational perspective, he was my No. 1 mentor,” Frangella said. “He helped me get my internship, and we still talk regularly. But all these people were mentors who helped in my early development.”
“Our work is a game, and it’s stressful and serious, but it’s a game. We’re helping baseball players stay healthy. It’s work, but it’s enjoyable work.”
Nick Frangella
Frangella, who lives in Chicago with his wife, Alyssa, and their 3-month-old son Nico, said the biggest challenge of the job is delivering bad news about player injuries or rehabs that aren’t progressing on schedule. A big part of the job, he said, is preventing injuries by helping players develop routines and strengthening programs on the front end that will help keep them on the field.
“Our work is a game, and it’s stressful and serious, but it’s a game,” Frangella said. “We’re helping baseball players stay healthy. It’s work, but it’s enjoyable work.”
Joe Kessler ’04 has been the head strength and conditioning coach for the Cleveland Guardians since 2010. Kessler views the beginning of the season with a veteran’s eye.
“Opening Day is the start of a very long season, and it’s easy to get wrapped up because everything is new,” he said. “There are flyovers and celebrations, and the stands are full, but you have to remind yourself that it’s Game 1 of 162. So, you can’t get too excited. You don’t want to peak too soon.”
A native of Coal City, one thing that’s easy to get excited about is the end of spring training when he can return to the Cleveland suburbs where he lives with his wife and four children.
Speaking from Arizona, where he puts in 14-hour days, Kessler said he gets started about 3:30 a.m. That’s early, but it keeps him on the same schedule as his family back home and matches up better with how his workdays go during the regular season.
“Yeah, I stay on East Coast time when I’m out in Arizona (for spring training),” he said. “Plus, my schedule gets better at home. It’s more like working second shift during the regular season. I get to the park about 1 p.m., and I’m there until the game is over.”
During his Illinois State days, Kessler recalls being challenged by Dr. Kristen Lagally’s classes. He said she was a tough but fair instructor who was good at explaining anatomy and exercise physiology.
One of the best things he did to prepare for his career was volunteering as the assistant strength coach in the Redbird weight room.
“I got my feet wet and my hands dirty,” he said. “It really helped me understand what it meant to do this type of work.”
Prior to joining the Guardians, Kessler did stints with the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. He’s happy that he landed where he did in baseball.
“The culture of the two games is completely different as you can imagine,” he said. “And, this is a tremendous organization here in Cleveland.”
Kelly Rhoades ’14 begins her first season as an assistant athletic trainer with the Detroit Tigers. In 2016, she was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the first female athletic trainer in franchise history. Rhoades, known as Kelly Boyce during her Redbird days, is a graduate of Illinois State’s athletic training program.
“It’s still a bit surreal, to be honest,” Boyce said. “I just finished my first spring training. I’m in a Major League role, which is something that I’ve worked for for the past 10 years. So, it’s obviously really exciting.”
She made her progression through the minor leagues, learning her craft along the way. Her start came when she introduced herself to Ken Crenshaw, now director of Sports Medicine performance for the Diamondbacks, when he came to speak to her class during graduate school. She kept in touch with Crenshaw for about a year before asking about internship opportunities. That perseverance is what really got her career going.
“I do owe a lot of a lot of where I am today to him and him giving me a chance,” she said.
Rhoades is reluctant to be spotlighted as a trailblazer in a male-dominated field but she is encouraged to see more women working for professional baseball organizations over the past decade.
“I would never say that my goal was to be the first female anything,” she said. “The job in general was already such an incredible accomplishment.”
Rhoades arrived at Illinois State with her sights set on making a career of athletic training after being introduced to the role through gymnastics, which she was active in from the ages of 4-18.
“My gymnastics coach was also an athletic trainer,” she said. “We didn’t have an official athletic trainer, but she would tape our ankles and give us rehab exercises on the side. That really got me interested in the profession.”
A native of Poplar Grove, a small town in Northern Illinois near the Wisconsin border, Rhoades chose Illinois State for the athletic training program but also for its proximity to home, only about two hours away. She said she had great professors, several of whom she still keeps in touch with. And she made lasting friendships with her athletic training classmates.
“My time at ISU was great,” she said. “It was so much fun and was just a really tightknit group. I can’t say enough good things about ISU.”
With the Tigers opening the 2024 season at the Chicago White Sox March 28, Rhoades said she is expecting about a dozen family and friends in attendance for her first big league game as an assistant athletic trainer.
“It will be really really neat to have that full-circle moment where they get to see the Day One of me achieving my goal of making it to the Major League,” Rhoades said. “So, that’s going to be really special.”
Frangella, Kessler, and Rhoades are three of more than 10 Illinois State Kinesiology and Recreation alumni working for MLB organizations, along with former Redbirds from other academic programs who hold front office positions.
Players in the pros: These former Redbirds are playing professional baseball, with the two in bold font, set to be on MLB Opening Day rosters: Paul DeJong–White Sox; Brock Stewart–Twins; Owen Miller–Triple A (Milwaukee Brewers); Brent Headrick–Triple A (Minnesota Twins); Jeff Lindgren–Triple A (Miami Marlins); Colton Johnson–Single A (Oakland Athletics); Ryan Cermak–Single A (Tampa Bay Rays); and Hayden Jones–High A (Cincinnati Reds).
