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Huh. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the rats are jumping ship...This year must be gonna SUCK...
Lamping resigns from Cards, takes job in New York
After an active, ambitious and highly successful 13-year run as the Cardinals’ team president, a tenure highlighted by the opening of the new Busch Stadium and the franchise’s 10th World Series championship, Mark Lamping is heading to New York and New Jersey to pursue a new dream job.
Lamping has resigned from the Cardinals to become CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium Company. Lamping will supervise all facets of a $1.4 billion stadium project that will house two NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.
Lamping will be succeeded as president by Bill DeWitt III, the 40-year-old son of Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.
DeWitt III is currently the team’s senior vice president for business development, and is leading the task to get the downtown Ballpark Village real-estate project off the ground. (Lamping hasn’t been involved in the Ballpark Village planning).
Both DeWitts were unavailable for comment Thursday, but will attend a noon news conference Friday to discuss the changes.
As a kid, Lamping slept on a sidewalk outside old Busch Stadium to be among the first in line for tickets to the 1968 World Series. To Lamping, the Cardinals were an essential part of his St. Louis childhood experience.
“And in 1994, when I was asked to interview for the job of Cardinal team president, I thought it was a cruel joke,” Lamping said. “I never imagined that I’d be given such an opportunity. This baseball team was an important part of my summers. And to be given the chance to serve as the team president well, that’s too big of a dream for somebody like me to have.”
Lamping, a graduate of Vianney High School, said he wasn’t looking to leave St. Louis. But he was drawn to the opportunity to coordinate the Giants-Jets joint stadium venture. The facility is scheduled to open for the 2010 NFL season.
“This was a very tough decision,” Lamping said. “And not only because of my love for the franchise and the city, but also for how well I was treated by everyone. The owners of the Cardinals, and the team’s employees, and most importantly, how the fans treated me. I could not have been in a better situation.”
So what changed? Lamping, and his wife, Cheryl, have three children, ages 19, 23 and 26. Now that they’ve grown up, Lamping felt free to take on a new challenge.
“I’m at the stage of my life and career where leaving St. Louis is something we can consider,” he said. “We could not and would not consider it in the past when our kids were still in high school. And professionally, I still want to grow and develop. It’s not that the Cardinals’ job isn’t challenging, because it is.
“But this is a chance to do something different. What’s happening at the Meadowlands is a once-in-a-lifetime project. I’ll be able to hire my own staff and put an organization together. I’m the first employee hired, and you don’t get the opportunity to build things from scratch, particularly on this prominent of a stage.”
Lamping was approached in November, went through a multiple-stage interview process, and was offered the job last week in New York.
After a career as prominent sports-marketing executive at Anheuser-Busch, Lamping was hired as Cardinals president on Sept. 1, 1994.
It was a troubling time for the franchise. The 1994 Major League Baseball season was shut down because of a labor disagreement, and the Cardinals were slumping on the field.
Lamping played a substantial role in the Cardinals’ reversal of fortune. In 1995, Lamping hired Walt Jocketty as general manager, and Jocketty soon hired Tony La Russa as manager. That partnership was responsible for seven trips to the postseason over a 12-year stretch, and the prizes included the 2004 National League pennant and the 2006 World Series title.
Lamping helped with the smooth transition of the franchise when Anheuser-Busch sold the Cardinals to DeWitt’s group in the winter of 1995.
The new Busch opened in 2006 to positive reviews. And with Lamping as president, the Cardinals drew 3 million or more fans in a season nine times. And the team will top 3 million in home attendance again this season.
But the job wasn’t easy.
Lamping played a major role in the team’s decision to move the team’s radio broadcasts from KMOX to KTRS drew criticism.
And Lamping took an aggressive tact in trying to secure public financing for the new Busch Stadium at one point having discussions with Illinois officials to build a new stadium in Metro East.
Lamping’s goal of getting a taxpayer-funded stadium in St. Louis was rejected by the Missouri legislature, and DeWitt and partners ultimately bankrolled much of the facility with their own money. Lamping called the quest the most difficult challenge of his Cardinals career.
“In the end, we were able to get the ballpark built,” he said. “And for me, the opening of Busch in April 2006 is right there with winning the 2006 World Series. I’m very proud that we took the franchise from where it was in 1994, to what it’s been the past 10 years.”
Lamping resigns from Cards, takes job in New York
By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/13/2008ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
 Mark Lamping (James A. Finley/AP) |
After an active, ambitious and highly successful 13-year run as the Cardinals’ team president, a tenure highlighted by the opening of the new Busch Stadium and the franchise’s 10th World Series championship, Mark Lamping is heading to New York and New Jersey to pursue a new dream job.
Lamping has resigned from the Cardinals to become CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium Company. Lamping will supervise all facets of a $1.4 billion stadium project that will house two NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.
Lamping will be succeeded as president by Bill DeWitt III, the 40-year-old son of Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.
DeWitt III is currently the team’s senior vice president for business development, and is leading the task to get the downtown Ballpark Village real-estate project off the ground. (Lamping hasn’t been involved in the Ballpark Village planning).
Both DeWitts were unavailable for comment Thursday, but will attend a noon news conference Friday to discuss the changes.
As a kid, Lamping slept on a sidewalk outside old Busch Stadium to be among the first in line for tickets to the 1968 World Series. To Lamping, the Cardinals were an essential part of his St. Louis childhood experience.
“And in 1994, when I was asked to interview for the job of Cardinal team president, I thought it was a cruel joke,” Lamping said. “I never imagined that I’d be given such an opportunity. This baseball team was an important part of my summers. And to be given the chance to serve as the team president well, that’s too big of a dream for somebody like me to have.”
Lamping, a graduate of Vianney High School, said he wasn’t looking to leave St. Louis. But he was drawn to the opportunity to coordinate the Giants-Jets joint stadium venture. The facility is scheduled to open for the 2010 NFL season.
“This was a very tough decision,” Lamping said. “And not only because of my love for the franchise and the city, but also for how well I was treated by everyone. The owners of the Cardinals, and the team’s employees, and most importantly, how the fans treated me. I could not have been in a better situation.”
So what changed? Lamping, and his wife, Cheryl, have three children, ages 19, 23 and 26. Now that they’ve grown up, Lamping felt free to take on a new challenge.
“I’m at the stage of my life and career where leaving St. Louis is something we can consider,” he said. “We could not and would not consider it in the past when our kids were still in high school. And professionally, I still want to grow and develop. It’s not that the Cardinals’ job isn’t challenging, because it is.
“But this is a chance to do something different. What’s happening at the Meadowlands is a once-in-a-lifetime project. I’ll be able to hire my own staff and put an organization together. I’m the first employee hired, and you don’t get the opportunity to build things from scratch, particularly on this prominent of a stage.”
Lamping was approached in November, went through a multiple-stage interview process, and was offered the job last week in New York.
After a career as prominent sports-marketing executive at Anheuser-Busch, Lamping was hired as Cardinals president on Sept. 1, 1994.
It was a troubling time for the franchise. The 1994 Major League Baseball season was shut down because of a labor disagreement, and the Cardinals were slumping on the field.
Lamping played a substantial role in the Cardinals’ reversal of fortune. In 1995, Lamping hired Walt Jocketty as general manager, and Jocketty soon hired Tony La Russa as manager. That partnership was responsible for seven trips to the postseason over a 12-year stretch, and the prizes included the 2004 National League pennant and the 2006 World Series title.
Lamping helped with the smooth transition of the franchise when Anheuser-Busch sold the Cardinals to DeWitt’s group in the winter of 1995.
The new Busch opened in 2006 to positive reviews. And with Lamping as president, the Cardinals drew 3 million or more fans in a season nine times. And the team will top 3 million in home attendance again this season.
But the job wasn’t easy.
Lamping played a major role in the team’s decision to move the team’s radio broadcasts from KMOX to KTRS drew criticism.
And Lamping took an aggressive tact in trying to secure public financing for the new Busch Stadium at one point having discussions with Illinois officials to build a new stadium in Metro East.
Lamping’s goal of getting a taxpayer-funded stadium in St. Louis was rejected by the Missouri legislature, and DeWitt and partners ultimately bankrolled much of the facility with their own money. Lamping called the quest the most difficult challenge of his Cardinals career.
“In the end, we were able to get the ballpark built,” he said. “And for me, the opening of Busch in April 2006 is right there with winning the 2006 World Series. I’m very proud that we took the franchise from where it was in 1994, to what it’s been the past 10 years.”
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