Fantasy Baseball Innovator Ron Shandler Brings His “Quest For Fire” Seminars To Baseball Fans in Chicago and Cleveland This Weekend

New York, NY (I-Newswire) March 1, 2011 - Fantasy baseball pioneer and BaseballHQ.com founder Ron Shandler will continue his national seminar tour this weekend in suburban Chicago and Cleveland, following sold out events in New York and the Washington, D.C., area last weekend. Shandler was one of the first and continues to be one of the world’s experts in fantasy baseball innovation and analysis, which has grown from a niche hobby into a multi-million dollar business in the past quarter-century. His Baseball Forecaster Handbook is now in its 25th year of publishing, making it one of the oldest and longest running fantasy baseball publications in the industry. His 2011 seminar series, themed “Quest for Fire,” is a fun and interactive three hour discussion that gives fans the ability to find players who will greatly exceed their value and help lead to victory.

BaseballHQ.com is widely regarded as the premier independent fantasy baseball voice on the web, and is a part of Big Lead Sports, the leading independent sports site on the web with over 19 million visitors monthly.

Shandler and leading fantasy experts will be on hand on Saturday from noon – 3 p.m. at the Chicago Marriott - Oak Brook at 1401 West 22nd St. in Oak Brook, Ill., and on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown at 1100 Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland.

On Saturday in Oak Brook, Shandler will be joined by Rick Wilton of Baseball Injury Report, Jim Callis of Baseball America, Derek VanRiper of Rotowire and Sirius XM Radio and Joe Hoffer of BaseballHQ. On Sunday in Cleveland, Shandler and Wilton will be met by BaseballHQ experts Matt Beagle, Rob Gordon, Joshua Randall and Michael Weddell.

The three-hour sessions consist of numerous activities such as:
Bullets -- targeted lists of important topics, including injuries, prospects and comeback players
Cage Matches - two-way and three-way debates on topics related to "The Quest"
Hazardous Hurler Auction - who are this year's high-risk arms worth taking a chance on?
2011's Black Swan - which event will be completely unexpected but have a huge impact?
Open forum Q&A - lightning-round Q&A on a range of Draft Day topics

"Fans can sit behind a computer and access information that is useful, but the forums are all about interactivity, talking to attendees, getting a sense of player values from their perspective," said Shandler. "We had one event in New York and one in Chicago the first year; now we have between 7-10 depending on the availability of speaker and scheduling. Many of our guests come back year after year."

The first three First Pitch Forums in the 2011 series were held this past weekend in Baltimore/ Washington, New York and Boston. Future events will take place in Pasadena, Calif., on March 12; and San Mateo, Calif., on March 13.

Space is limited. Registration for either event is just $39 per person in advance, until Thursday at 9 p.m., or $49 per person after Thursday at 9 p.m, or at the door. For more on the “First Pitch Forums,” visit http://www.baseballhq.com/seminars/questforfire.shtml.

About Big Lead Sports:
Founded as Fantasy Sports Ventures, in October, 2006, Big Lead Sports (BLS) is an integrated marketing and media company with a focus on digital/fantasy sports. In less than four years, the company has aggregated leading independent voices across all major sports, reaching 19 million+ users per month. Leveraging this large, highly engaged audience, BLS develops custom marketing and media campaigns for leading national advertisers. The campaigns combine traditional online media with custom games, content modules, widgets, and other interactive features that highlight the advertiser’s brand. Chris Russo, the former head of the NFL’s New Media Division, is the founder and CEO of Big Lead Sports.

Company Contact Information
Big Lead Sports
Jerry Milani