Highlights

— Hiring Walt Jocketty as general manager in 1995, which directly led to the hiring of manager Tony La Russa in 1996. The result was one of the most successful runs in franchise history: postseason appearances in 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006; World Series appearances in '04 and '06; and the World Series championship in '06. During the Jocketty-La Russa years, only the New York Yankees won more postseason games than did the Cardinals.

— The 1996 renovation of old Busch Stadium, a retro reshaping that included a return to natural grass and gave the synthetic, cookie-cutter ballpark an old-time baseball look and feel.

— Guiding a successful ownership transition from Anheuser-Busch to a consortium of investors led by Bill DeWitt Jr. in 1996.

— Overseeing virtually every aspect of the funding, development and construction of the new Busch Stadium, which opened to positive reviews in 2006.

— A growth in popularity. Before Lamping's hiring in 1994, the Cardinals had exceeded 3 million in attendance only twice. During the Lamping years, the Cardinals have topped 3 million in home attendance nine times, and will do so again in 2008.

— A dramatic expansion of the television package. When Lamping took over in the mid-1990s, the Cardinals were televising about 60-65 games on an annual basis. Now, virtually all games, home and away, are available, primarily through local carriers FSN Midwest or KSDK (Channel 5), with national appearances on ESPN and Fox.

— The transfer of the Cardinals' Florida spring-training operation from St. Petersburg to a sprawling, modern complex in the growing area of Jupiter.

Lowlights

— Lamping led an often-contentious battle to secure public financing for the new Busch Stadium. The effort largely failed, and Cardinals owners ended up paying for about 75 percent of the project, though they benefited from tax breaks secured by Lamping.

— The controversial move from traditional radio broadcast partner KMOX to KTRS following the 2005 season. At the time, the switch upset many longtime listeners of Cardinals games.

— As the team's popularity and player payroll grew, the cost of tickets went up, and part of that was an expensive personal-seat-license program at the new Busch. This led to complaints that the Cardinals were squeezing out modest-income and low-income fans.

— A tragic, roiling 2007 season that included the death of pitcher Josh Hancock in a drunken-driving accident, the DUI arrest of La Russa, the drug-alcohol problems of utility man Scott Spiezio and the increasing perception that the organization had let things spiral out of control. Lamping, however, initiated policy changes that led to the removal of alcohol from the clubhouse and from flights returning to St. Louis.