*Devil Rays RHP Brazelton wins Conigliaro Award*
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BOSTON (Ticker) - Dewon Brazelton, the promising righthander of
the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, on Friday was named the recipient of
the Tony Conigliaro Award, given to the player who overcomes
adversity through spirit, determination and courage.

The award is named for the former Boston Red Sox slugger who had
a stellar career cut short by a beanball in 1967.  Once the
youngest player to lead the American League in home runs,
Conigliaro died in 1990 after an eight-year struggle to come
back from a massive heart attack that left him handicapped.

Brazelton grew up with a twin brother that had cerebral palsy.
Despite a childhood that included calling four different places
home, became active in the community.

A top-notch student-athlete and star at Middle Tennessee State,
Brazelton was 6-8 with a 4.77 ERA in 22 games for the Devil Rays
in 2004.

Major league teams submit nominations with an 11-person panel
handling the voting.

Brazelton received seven first-place votes, one second and one
third from the panel.  His 39 points were 18 more than Andres
Galarraga and 20 more than Jon Lieber.  Chris Carpenter, Johnny
Estrada and Brad Wilkerson also received votes.

Brazelton will be presented with the award January 15 at the
Boston Baseball Writers' Association's annual dinner.

Past winners include Jim Eisenreich (1990), Dickie Thon (1991),
Jim Abbott (1992), Bo Jackson (1993), Curtis Pride (1996) and
Mike Lowell (1999).

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