No, this is not a joke!

Some things in sports are unpredictable, and some are downright goofy.

The Sioux City Explorers currently own a record of 24-27 on the season and were recently in need of some help on the mound.

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It's not unusual for a team to inquire about former players' availability; but when one of the former players is a current politician, it isn't likely to be successful.

But this time around, it just happened to work out.

Per an extensive write up from Sporting News, current Iowa State Representative J.D. Scholten has recently been called to the mound by his former team:

Iowa state representative J.D. Scholten (D) just pitched a strong outing after a 17-year hiatus from American baseball.

 

Scholten played baseball in various independent leagues from 2003-07, pitching for Sioux City for the majority of the time.

 

His first appearance back in his home state went as well as one could have hoped: a 6.2-inning performance where he struck out two and gave up seven hits and two runs.

It's an impressive feat, as Scholten is 44 years old and has been away from professional baseball for well over a decade.

As for his next appearance, it might not be too far away:

He pitched 6.2 strong innings on July 6 and signed with the Explorers on July 7, so it's very possible more Scholten mound appearances are in the future.

To his credit, Scholten, despite his lengthy absence from pro baseball, has compiled a pretty impressive record on the mound. Per the Sporting News article, Scholten owns a career pitching record of 18-11.

Just in case you're itching for a chance to see the politician on the mound here in Sioux Falls soon, the Explorers take on the Canaries at the Bird Cage from August 27th to the 29th.

Sources: Sporting News and SFCanaries.com

35 Movies That Take Place in South Dakota

When it comes to South Dakota and Hollywood, we've seen our fair share of films that have used our state as the backdrop for a number of productions over the years. They may not have always filmed here, but movie folk love to set stories here.

We're all familiar with the blockbusters like 1990's Dances With Wolves, 1959's North By Northwest, and more recently, 2007's National Treasure: Book of Secrets. But our state's life on the big screen goes back nearly 100 years.

According to IMDb, it all started with Courtin' Wildcats, a 1929 film which, like so many of the 29 films on this list, is a Western set in the time before South Dakota became a state in 1889.

Gallery Credit: Jeff Harkness/B1027.com

 

 

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