* Last year about this time…

Beer, hot dogs and sunshine made for a perfect afternoon at the ballpark, but those visiting Busch Stadium on Thursday weren’t there to see the St. Louis Cardinals.

Instead, they watched Missouri lawmakers defeat their legislative counterparts from Illinois, 7-4, in what officials from both sides hope will become an annual softball game. The winning team takes home both a shiny gold trophy and bragging rights to its respective state Capitol. […]

Still, Missouri pulled off the win, thanks to a strong showing in the first few innings that put them up 7-0 by the bottom of the fourth. The Illinois Legislature answered in the fifth inning with two runs to prevent a shutout, and eventually scored two more to tighten the score, but they couldn’t overcome the deficit.

After the game, the lawmakers joked that Missouri’s term limits may have given the Show-Me state the advantage of a younger team.

“We have more seasoned ballplayers,” joked Illinois Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Belleville.

It was hotter than blazes, and the Missouri team… Um, how can I put this politely?… Ignored some ground rules.

And, yes, term limits probably played a role. The average age of the MO squad was like 25. I’m not joking. OK, well, maybe a little. Their House Speaker was only 36 years old at the time. Dude looked like a kid and he may have been the oldest member of the team.

Not to mention that the teams were playing 12-inch softball, not the Chicago-area’s 16-inch, which is what they play during the annual House vs. Senate game. And they used the entire professional field, meaning 90-foot base-paths. One of our players (I won’t say who) hit a triple and I thought he was gonna die by the time he got to third base. He was huffing and puffing and covered in sweat and looked at me with such desperation that I tossed him a water bottle.

I didn’t realize how bitter I still was about that game until they asked me to come back again for the rematch. I “announced” the Illinois half-innings on the stadium’s PA system last July and I’ll be doing it again tonight.

* Illinois team captain Rep. Jay Hoffman recently talked about his team’s prospects with the BND…

Come to think of it, maybe the players should ignore the headline on this post. Let’s just hope nobody gets hurt.