Dodgers hire head trainer Sue Falsone

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced the hiring of Sue Falsone as their new head physical therapist/athletic trainer on Monday.

Falsone is the first woman to serve as head athletic trainer in any of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues. Stan Conte, the team's current director of medical services, was promoted to senior director, medical services.

More From ESPNLosAngeles.com

For more news, notes and analysis of the Dodgers, check out ESPN LA's Dodgers Report. Blog

"This is a very special day not just for Sue, but for the Dodgers and Major League Baseball," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement released by the team. "The Dodgers have always been an organization of firsts and this promotion for Sue continues in that tradition."

Falsone, who has served as a consultant to the Dodgers since 2007, will continue her role as vice president of performance physical therapy and team sports at Phoenix-based Athletes' Performance, with whom the Dodgers announced a partnership.

"It is a true honor to be given this opportunity with such a progressive and historic organization," Falsone said in the statement, adding, "I look forward to helping develop innovative and creative programs to reduce injuries and keep our players on the field so that they can achieve their potential."

While at Athletes' Performance, Falsone worked with baseball players from multiple organizations seeking treatment during the offseason or extended disabled list stays.

ESPN baseball analyst Curt Schilling rehabbed with Falsone when he was pitching for the Boston Red Sox.

"I can't imagine anyone more equipped to get that position, both from an intelligence perspective and the makeup of her personality," Schilling said last week when told of Falsone's impending hire with the Dodgers. "She was destined for this."

Schilling dismissed Falsone's gender as a potential barrier in Major League Baseball's environment. She directed Schilling's ankle rehabilitation following his surgery in 2004.

"I could care less," he said. "If the person treating me gets me healthy and back on the field, it doesn't matter what their gender, race or anything else is. It's all about results."

In the statement, Conte said: "She brings a fresh perspective to injury prevention and management that I strongly believe will reduce lost time due to injuries for the Dodgers."

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe