Diamondbacks Trainer to Speak at National Baseball Symposium in Phoenix

Paul Lessard, the head trainer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, will be one of over a dozen national baseball analysts to speak at First Pitch Arizona, October 29-31, at the DoubleTree Suites in Phoenix.

October 25, 2004 -- Paul Lessard, the head trainer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, will be one of the featured speakers at the 10th annual First Pitch Arizona fantasy baseball symposium, October 29-31 at the DoubleTree Guest Suites in Phoenix.

Lessard will join over a dozen national writers and analysts, from ESPN.com, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and Fox Sports Radio to speak at this 3-day event that looks at the fantasy baseball industry against the backdrop of the Arizona Fall League.

His Friday morning session will focus on the growing field of baseball injury analysis.

In addition to Lessard, this year's conference will feature many leading writers, analysts and baseball personnel, including:

- John Sickels, ESPN.com 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
- Kimball Crossley, Toronto Blue Jays' scout
- Sam Walker, Wall Street Journal
- Greg Ambrosius, Fantasy Sports Trade Association president
- Rick Wilton, founder of the Sports Weekly Hot Sheet
- Dony Levy, Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut

"This is the only place where you'll ever get all of these people in the same room at one time," stated Ron Shandler, author and publisher of BaseballHQ.com, the sponsor of the symposium. "This event draws a very high level audience in terms of baseball intellect, and the weekend essentially becomes a 3-day think tank on every conceivable topic."

"Mr. Lessard will add a new dimension to the program," Shandler continued. "There has been a rapidly growing interest in understanding baseball injuries and advances in treatment. There are now several writers in the industry who cover this field regularly. We hope to gain some new insights from this session."

First Pitch Arizona is sponsored by the industry leading baseball analysis website, BaseballHQ.com, which provides information to fantasy leaguers and major league ballclubs, including the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. Several of the site's
writers, including Shandler, were consultants to the National League champion Cardinals during the 2004 season.

The symposium expects to draw over 100 attendees from the U.S. and Canada who will spend their mornings discussing various aspects of baseball analysis, and then attend Arizona Fall League ballgames to scout out tomorrow's rising stars. There are still seats available, and walk-up registrations are allowed.

Complete information about 2004 First Pitch Arizona can be found at http://www.firstpitchforums.com/arizona/.

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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