From a sketch of the Whitings team in the Chicago Daily Inter Ocean on May 7, 1893 (pg 9).	Frank Rheims Born: 1864 Died: August 13, 1899 Goto Baseball Reference for Frank Rheims of-inf-c Majors: No
	Chicago Position: of-inf-c First game: June 13, 1888 Last game: October 7, 1888 # of games: 84	Signed June 13, 1888 from the Whittings and stayed with Chicago for the rest of the season.

Frank C. Rheims played one season of professional baseball, in 1888, when he started the season with the Lima (Ohio) Lushers in the Tri State League. He signed with the Chicago Maroons in the Western Association on June 13, 1888. He played mostly in the outfield, but also at third base and second base. In 84 games, he hit .204 with little power.

Not much can be found about the family or early life of Frank Rheims. Baseball-Reference lists his year of birth as 1864, but no location. He does not turn up in US Census records from 1870 and 1880, at least not under the name "Rheims". It is possible that this spelling is an adaptation from a different spelling. (It should be noted that in some later documents, his name is spelled "Rhiems".)

The first mention of Frank Rheims in the Chicago newspapers occurs in 1887, when we learn that he was a member of the Board of Trade, and that in his younger days, Frank Rheims was a member of the "Bung Cadets" with Tommy Barrett (Chicago Tribune, May 28, 1887:1). In 1882, evangelist K.A. Burnell led a meeting of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union on New Years Day. During his sermon, he preached about the dangers of intemperance.

While coming down from his home but a short time before, he had seen carriage after carriage roll by on the avenue - the occupants of which - young men of presumed responsibility - were conspicuously under the influence of wine. To one deplorable sight, particularly noticeable, he drew special attention - that of six young men in an express-wagon, calling themselves "Bung Cadets." (Chicago Tribune, January 3, 1882: 8)

In addition to being a locally known baseball player in Chicago, Rheims was an amateur boxing champion described as "one of the two best middle-weight amateurs of Chicago" in the Chicago Tribune on March 24, 1888. (The other was probably Barrett, against whom he lost a match for the Middle Weight Amateur Championship of Illinois in March, 1887. The two were part of a group that established a sparring club in an upstairs room above the Board of Trade. In December 1888 during an exhibition match, Rheims broke his ankle. "Frank Rheims led out at Thomas Barrett with a force that turned his right ankle and as he dropped to the floor a snap gave the first intimation of a broken leg." The article later notes "The fun could not be stopped for a little mishap like this, so Harry Gilmore hopped into the ring and entertained the crowd with Barrett" (Chicago Tribune, December 28, 1888: 8).

In the spring of 1889, Frank Rheims was hired by A.G. Spalding to fill the position vacated by Sam Morton after Morton departed Chicago, moving the Marrons to Minneapolis for the 1889 season. In 1890 he became manager of the Chicago Whitings. That same year in October he married Nellie Devereaux. Their first child, a daughter, was born one year later. Tragically, Nellie died shortly after the child was born (likely of complications from child birth), while the daughter (named Nellie after her mother) died just eight months later in May 1892.

Rheims managed and played for the Whitings for several more years. He was a Chief Deputy Assessor in Chicago for some time. He also scouted for clubs in the National League. He pops up in articles in the Chicago newspapers in the 1890s in connection with local boxing matches, Whitings ball games, and other activities of the Chicago City League. He pulled the Whitings from the league in the mid-1890s when he determined he could make more money playing as an independent club at the grounds of the National League Chicago Colts on weekends when that club was out of town. His Whitings club defeated the NL Cleveland Spiders in September, 1896, although the Spiders kept many of their star players out of the game.

In August 1899, Frank Rheims checked himself into the hospital. "He came to the hospital on Saturday unattended, and was evidently in bad condition, being more or less delirious. The physicians were unable to relieve him, and sinking rappidly, he died at 11:20 o'clock" (Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1899). His death was noted in papers such as the Boston Globe, the Brookklyn Daily Eagle and the Fresno (California) Morning Republican. The obituaries noted that "it was due to his discernment that some of the present National League players were brought from obscurity and given position where their ball playing qualities were brought out." He is burried in Calvary Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery in Evenston, Illinois, with his wife.

Date	Pos	AB	R	BH	2B	3B	HR	SB	PO	A	E	BB	HPB	K
6-13-1888	cf	5	0	0					0	0	2
6-14-1888	rf	3	1	1		1			1	0	0
6-16-1888	rf	4	1	0				1	0	0	1			3
6-17-1888	rf	4	0	2				0	1	0	0
6-18-1888	rf	3	1	1	1				0	0	0			1
6-19-1888	2b	4	0	1	1			0	2	4	1			1
6-21-1888	rf	3	0	1				0	1	1	0
6-23-1888	rf	3	0	0				0	1	0	0			1
6-24-1888	rf	3	0	0				0	2	0	0	1		1
6-26-1888	rf	4	1	1					2	1	1			2
6-28-1888	rf	4	1	0					1	0	0	1	1
6-29-1888	rf	5	0	0					1	0	0			1
6-30-1888	rf	5	1	2				1	0	0	0
7-2-1888	rf	4	1	0					2	1	0
7-4-1888	rf	5	1	2				0	2	0	0
7-4-1888	rf	3	0	0				0	0	0	0
7-5-1888	rf	3	0	1	1			0	1	0	0
7-7-1888	rf	4	1	1				0	2	1	0	1
7-9-1888	rf	4	0	1				0	2	0	1
7-10-1888	rf	4	1	3	1			0	1	0	0
7-12-1888	rf	5	1	1	1			0	3	0	0			1
7-13-1888	rf	5	0	0				0	1	0	0			2
7-14-1888	rf	4	1	0				0	2	0	0			2
7-15-1888	rf	4	0	0				0	0	0	1
7-15-1888	rf	5	2	3		1		0	1	0	0
7-16-1888	lf	4	1	1	1			0	1	0	0			2
7-17-1888	lf	4	1	2			1	0	0	1	0
7-18-1888	lf	4	0	0				0	1	0	0
7-19-1888	lf & 3b	4	0	1				0	0	0	1
7-20-1888	3b	4	1	1				0	0	3	0
7-21-1888	3b	4	0	1					2	2	0
7-23-1888	3b	5	0	0				1	0	4	2
7-24-1888	3b	3	0	1	1			1	1	4	2
7-25-1888	3b	4	1	1				0	2	0	0
7-27-1888	3b & c	4	1	1				0	7	1	0
7-28-1888	c	5	1	2				0	2	1	0
7-29-1888	3b	3	0	0				0	0	4	1		1
7-30-1888	3b	5	1	1	1			1	0	4	0
8-1-1888	3b	5	0	1				0	0	3	2
8-2-1888	2b	5	1	1	1			1	3	4	0
8-3-1888	2b	5	0	0				0	2	3	0			2
8-4-1888	lf	4	0	1					1	0	0
8-5-1888	lf	3	1	1					0	1	0	1
8-6-1888	lf	3	0	0					3	0	0
8-7-1888	lf	4	0	1					1	1	1
8-8-1888	lf	4	1	1				0	0	0	0
8-9-1888	lf	4	1	1	1			0	0	0	1
8-11-1888	lf & 3b	5	0	0				0	0	1	1
8-12-1888	lf	4	1	1				1	0	0	1	1		1
8-13-1888	lf	4	0	0					3	0	1			1
8-14-1888	lf	4	2	2	1			2	0	0	1			1
8-16-1888	lf	4	0	0					3	0	0			1
8-17-1888	lf	4	1	2					1	0	0			2
8-18-1888	lf	3	1	1			1		1	0	0	1
8-19-1888	lf	4	0	2	1				3	0	0			2
8-21-1888	2b	4	0	0					1	2	2
8-22-1888	2b	4	0	1					3	4	1			1
8-23-1888	2b	5	2	2	1				2	9	0
8-24-1888	2b	3	0	1				1	0	3	0	1		1
8-26-1888	lf	4	0	2				0	1	0	0
8-28-1888	lf	4	1	1				0	1	0	0
8-29-1888	lf	5	3	3				0	2	0	0
8-31-1888	lf	5	0	1				0	0	0	0			2
9-1-1888	rf	4	0	0				0	1	0	0			1
9-2-1888	rf	2	0	0				0	0	0	0	1
9-2-1888	rf & 3b	4	0	0				0	2	0	0			2
9-3-1888	lf	6	0	1				0	0	0	0
9-4-1888	lf	4	0	2				0	3	0	0
9-5-1888	lf	4	0	0				0	1	0	0
9-6-1888	lf	4	0	0				0	1	0	0
9-7-1888	lf	3	0	1					2	0	0
9-7-1888	rf	3	0	0					1	1	3	1
9-8-1888	2b	2	0	0					1	0	0	1
9-8-1888	lf	4	0	1					5	0	0
9-10-1888	lf	2	0	0					2	0	0
9-10-1888	lf	4	0	1					1	0	0
9-12-1888	rf	4	0	0				0	1	0	0
9-13-1888	rf & cf	3	0	0				0	1	0	0
9-15-1888	2b	3	0	0				0	4	0	2	1
9-17-1888	lf	4	0	0				0	0	0	0
9-22-1888	ss	4	2	1				0	1	3	2
10-4-1888	2b	2	1	1				0	0	1	2		1	1
10-7-1888	2b	4	1	0				0	1	3	1
10-7-1888	c	3	0	2				1	7	2	4
84 Games		329	40	69	13	2	2	11	111	73	38	11	3	35