10th Anniversary Symposium to Bring Top Baseball Analysts and Fantasy Leaguers to Phoenix
Over a dozen of the industry's top baseball analysts will be in Phoenix this October 29-31 for the 10th annual First Pitch Arizona conference. Popular writers from ESPN.com, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and Fox Sports Radio will speak at this 3-day event that looks at the fantasy baseball industry against the backdrop of the Arizona Fall League.
Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) August 28, 2004 -- Over a dozen of the industry's top
baseball analysts will be in Phoenix this October 29-31 for the 10th annual
First Pitch Arizona conference. Popular writers from ESPN.com, Baseball America,
Baseball Prospectus and Fox Sports Radio will speak at this 3-day event that
looks at the fantasy baseball industry against the backdrop of the Arizona Fall
League.
First Pitch Arizona, sponsored by popular website BaseballHQ.com,
is a rare opportunity for national writers, industry vendors and fantasy
leaguers to congregate outside their March draft rooms. During a time of year
when Major League Baseball is mostly dormant, they'll attend games and watch
baseball's best prospects at MLB's premier off-season league. Leading the group
are the top baseball writers and analysts in the industry, experts in everything
from the minor leagues to statistical analysis to Rotisserie
strategy.
The 10th annual First Pitch Arizona will take place at the
DoubleTree Guest Suites in Phoenix, Arizona. The event's web site can be found
at http://www.firstpitchforums.com/arizona/
This year's
conference will feature:
- John Sickels, ESPN.com's columnist and minor
league author
- Jim Callis, Baseball America's Executive Editor
- Joe
Sheehan, Baseball Prospectus columnist
- Ron Shandler, author of the Baseball
Forecaster
- Matthew Berry, Fox Sports Radio personality
- Rick Wilton,
founder of the Sports Weekly Hot Sheet
- Deric McKamey, BaseballHQ.com's
minor league director
- Doug Dennis, BaseballHQ,com's bullpen analyst
-
Jeff Barton, Scoresheet Baseball founder
- Todd Zola, Mastersball.com
columnist
- Dony Levy, Department of Sociology, University of
Connecticut
Shandler, McKamey and Dennis are also advisors to the St.
Louis Cardinals.
"This is the only place where you'll ever get all of
these people in the same room at one time, ever," stated Ron Shandler, publisher
of BaseballHQ.com and sponsor of the symposium. "And it's a terrific group. All
of our speakers are down-to-earth and accessible. They would be more than happy
to share a beer with you at the ballpark and talk about your fantasy roster.
It's that type of environment."
The 2004 program has been designed to
provide attendees with a one-to-one, interactive experience that they cannot get
just by reading industry publications or browsing the web. This year's theme is
"The Challenges of Winning" and will focus on overcoming the obstacles to
success. Highlights include...
- Keynote address by Don Levy, a
sociologist who will share his research results on what makes fantasy leaguers
tick.
- Three of the industry's leading minor league analysts will share
their opinions on the projectability of prospects.
- In a takeoff on a
popular television show, "Expert Eye for the Fantasy Guy," attendees will be
given the chance to have a "roster makeover" by some of the experts.
-
Several top strategists will discuss rules issues that cause unrest in many
fantasy leagues.
- Every year, the program features a special guest from
within the ranks of major or minor league baseball. Past guests have included:
Al Pedrique, now manager of the Diamondbacks, Thad Bosley, former batting coach
for the Oakland Athletics and Brent Strom, Minor League Pitching Coordinator for
the Montreal Expos. This year's guest speaker will be Kimball Crossley,
professional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays.
- The 3rd annual Xperts
Fantasy League draft, with some of the top analysts in the industry competing
head-to-head.
- The 5th Annual Arizona Challenge, a unique
Rotisserie-style competition that tests attendees' ability to assemble the
best
team against the clock.
And finally, there are ballgames. During
the weekend, attendees get to see baseball's top new talent compete in MLB's
highest level off-season league. Last year, attendees watched players like Joe
Mauer, Khalil Greene, B.J. Upton, Bobby Crosby, Casey Kotchman, David Wright,
Scott Hairston and many more who have already made it to the bigs in 2004. This
year's crop includes such rising prospects as Rickie Weeks, Delmon Young, Jeff
Francouer, Jason Kubel, Josh Barfield, Ian Kinsler, Ryan Howard, James Loney,
Adam Loewen, Gavin Floyd, Joey Gathright, Houston Street and dozens
more.
This event brings out the highest caliber of fantasy leaguers,
including top Rotisserie players, Scoresheet champions and perennial contenders
in national salary-cap contests. The speakers are experts in their fields, but
often serve as no more than facilitators for the discussions that take place.
Attendees depart Arizona having been enlightened and challenged, and over 75% of
them return every year.
Even the speakers are some of the event's biggest
fans. ESPN.com's John Sickels wrote: "First Pitch Arizona is a lot of fun, and a
great way to meet fellow baseball fanatics. There’s nothing like a room full of
diamond maniacs throwing tough questions at you rapid-fire to keep your mind
sharp."
And first-timers, like attendee Brian Sank, also dole out the
accolades: "The direct interaction with the foremost experts is tremendous and
beyond all expectations. Couple that with the opportunity to share ideas with
other fantasy players and AFL games is the best money spent on
Roto."
Complete information about the 2004 First Pitch Arizona can be
found at http://www.firstpitchforums.com/arizona/
Early bird
rates are currently available. Those wishing to register can do so at
https://www.baseballhq.com/subafl.html or by calling 1-800-422-7820.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/8/prweb153064.htm