Brian Rosener is the keeper of the Semoball Cup which is presented to the school with the most successful season. It is based on a formula that takes into account the combined winning percentage of all sports teams plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both teams and individuals. The bonus points are divided by the number of teams a school fields. Rosener has been the sports editor for the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff, Mo. since December 2001. He was born and raised in St. Louis, where he attended Lindbergh High School and Webster University. He is married to Jennifer, a Poplar Bluff native, has a son Jack and a dog named Satchel who stands in for his @semoballBrian photo.

La Russa will be back!

Posted Monday, October 22, 2007, at 9:41 AM

This from the Associated Press:

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Tony La Russa will return for his 13th season as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals after a difficult year in which his team failed to play .500 ball, a team official told The Associated Press on Monday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made, did not know details of the contract. An afternoon news conference was scheduled at Busch Stadium.

The 63-year-old La Russa had weighed leaving after a trying season in which the defending World Series champions finished 78-84.

The season got off to a rocky start even before it began when La Russa was arrested for drunken driving in March near the team’s spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla. Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock died in May after a drunken-driving accident, and several players were lost for long stretches of the season because injuries, including Chris Carpenter, the staff ace who pitched only in the season-opener.

Speculation that La Russa would leave was fueled further when the Cardinals fired general manager Walt Jocketty this month. Jocketty and La Russa have been close since the days when both were with Oakland. The Cardinals still have not hired Jocketty’s replacement.

La Russa has led St. Louis to seven playoff appearances, six NL Central championships, two pennants and the 2006 World Series win over Detroit. His A’s team won the 1989 World Series.

It should be a very interesting offseason.

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I would bet that the Cards announce that Mozeliak is the GM. They won't say that today but I think LaRussa wants him and wants some assurances on the GM front. Keeping Mozeliak as the GM makes the most sense as he is as competent as anyone else they could get from another team.

-- Posted by SWBG on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 10:28 AM
Well LaRussa is back, I hope our starting rotation doesn't return.

-- Posted by NoDisclosure on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 10:50 AM
ALRIGHT!!!

Finally a move by DeWitt that I agreed with! The Cardinal Dynasty of winning lives on!

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 10:50 AM
take that larussa haters!

-- Posted by richiro33 on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 12:07 PM
Hey NoDisclosure...Which starting rotation were you refering to?

-- Posted by TheCamp on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 12:19 PM
He still can only work with what he's given, and who knows what that will or won't be.

-- Posted by CapeRacer on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 1:02 PM
THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. LaRussa has definitely been in StL to long. He should've been fired the first few years after what he did to Ozzie.

-- Posted by truth_seeker on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 2:43 PM
You say that TLR has been with the Cardinals too long? What about Ozzie? Ozzie deserved every thing that came to him. By the time TLR came along, he was washed up and needed to retire.

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 2:58 PM
How dare tony make changes to an awful team.

-- Posted by richiro33 on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 3:12 PM
I wouldn't put my money on Mozeliak. The kid from Cleveland is more in line with long-term thinking by DeWitt.

-- Posted by Legend on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 3:12 PM
Ballplayer,TLR did nothing to Ozzy.Ozzy did it all to himself.He was good in the 80s,lousy in the 90s.

Im glad TLR is back.Now he can work on getting some starting pitchers,some LHPs for relivers and put Wainwright back in the closer spot along with Izzy.

As far as GM how about the the White rat? He and Tony together?can you imagine the greatest show on grass?come on Whitey!We need ya.

-- Posted by mogearjammer on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 5:05 PM
Wainwright in the bullpen? Are you crazy? He was the best pitcher in the rotation last year. How about Looper goes back to where he belongs: the bullpen. That is if we had to choose who was to go the bullpen.

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Mon, Oct 22, 2007, at 5:16 PM
Wainwright was the only good pitcher in the rotation.If Carp and Mulder is healthy the help will be needed in closing.Wainwright is a good starter but a better closer.

-- Posted by mogearjammer on Tue, Oct 23, 2007, at 4:31 PM

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