Politics meets baseball...

Sen. John Loudon, a Republican running for Missouri State Auditor, got into some trouble with the St. Louis Cardinals as of late. Putting politics aside for a second, I'm glad he's a Cardinals fan but it's these sort of things that hurt you in a campaign no matter what party you are involved with.

The St. Louis Cardinals have told Sen. John Loudon, a candidate for state auditor, not to copy their tickets on a fundraising invitation.[...]

The Chesterfield Republican violated the team's trademark protections by duplicating Cardinals tickets, including the team logo and player images, the team said.

The invitation also improperly "morphed" the image of pitcher Chris Carpenter into that of Loudon, said Ron Watermon, the Cardinals' director of governmental affairs and special projects.

"It literally looks like one of our tickets," Watermon told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for an article Wednesday. "We were surprised, and we took steps to correct it."

The team told Loudon to replace the invitation with another one.

"As a lifelong Cardinals fan, my only intention was to rally my supporters in a way I hope the Cardinals will rally in the second half of the season," Loudon said in a written statement. "I appreciate the gracious response from the Cardinals, and I will immediately abide by the Cardinals' request."[...]

Watermon said team executives weren't overly upset but that Loudon should have sought permission. He also said team owners aren't endorsing anyone in the race. Loudon faces four other Republicans in the Aug. 8 primary.