Rolen clears the air with Cardinals' LaRussa

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 2:07 AM Tuesday, August 11, 2009

ST. LOUIS — Scott Rolen and St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa are not on each other's Twitter list and there was a personality gap between the two that led to Rolen being traded to Toronto two years ago.

Rolen, though, is a big man — in stature physically and in class. He walked into La Russa's office Monday to say hello and bury the hatchet, and not in La Russa's head.

Rolen wears a Cincinnati Reds uniform now and this is his first trip back to St. Louis since he played here, although his concussion-like symptoms not only will prevent him from playing during the series, but is expected to land him on the disabled list today.

"I signed a contract to spend the rest of my career in St. Louis, that was the idea," he said. "It was cut short, for one reason or another, so you harbor feelings that sometimes you'd rather not. You'd rather not harbor resentment. Whether it is good or bad, you're human, and you carry some negative emotions.

"I wasn't sure to handle those situations and I haven't spoken to Tony since I left and didn't get out on the best of terms," Rolen said. "So I popped into his office, went in to say hello, and ended it there. The best way to get it done — look somebody in the face and say hello. That was it."

Rolen left San Francisco over the weekend when he felt the concussion-like symptoms and came to St. Louis for tests.

"No prognosis yet," he said. "I tried to play in San Francisco Friday and didn't have much fun doing that. We're going to take a few impact tests to see where we are. Right now, I'm down. No exercise, no anything."

Rolen probably will go on the DL today when outfielder Chris Dickerson is activated off the disabled list.

Masset takes set-up

Jared Burton was activated Monday, but he won't take the place of David Weathers as the team's righthanded set-up guy. That role goes to middle reliever Nick Masset and Burton slots into Masset's old job.

"Masset has the pitches and he is more experienced to handle it," said manager Dusty Baker. "He's always had the stuff. We've been bringing him into tough spots and he has handled it."

Said Burton, "I feel as if everything is lining back up for me as far as feeling good. I feel I'm where I should be. Now all of us want to do the best we can the last couple of months, wins some games and have some fun."

Hernandez valuable

Baker was stunned a couple of days after the knee surgery on catcher Ramon Hernandez and said, "He was off the crutches in a couple of days, walking well and walking with a swagger.

"He's a guy people don't realize his value until he's gone," Baker added. "You see he is hitting .250, but he is our best clutch guy, the best with runners in scoring position and two outs."

Hernandez is on a one-year deal and Baker figures Hernandez will be back by September, "To impress somebody, hopefully us. He's already made an impression on us."

No slides, no dives

Chris Dickerson, expected to be activated today and Rolen to be put on the disabled list, is already with the team after a week of rehab at Louisville to test his separated shoulder.

"I didn't have any problems and it's funny because I tried to avoid sliding head first and diving for ball at all costs," he said. "It made me look a bit stupid out there, but me and (manager) Rick Sweet had a good laugh about it."

Quote of the day

"He was a big influence on me, as he was to a lot of guys because he is a great teammate, a great person. It's a spontaneous business and he gets a chance to pitch for a team that it is in the hunt." — Pitcher Jared Burton on the trade of David Weathers to Milwaukee.

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