Batter up! Lawmakers suit up for annual Congressional Baseball Game

Democratic and Republican lawmakers will face off outside the Capitol Wednesday night for the annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park.

The game has been a yearly tradition since 1909 and started raising funds for charity in 2016. Republicans were victorious last year, winning 10-0, and in 2021. The Democrats’ last win was in 2019; there was no game in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), the Republicans’ starting pitcher, told Newsmax Tuesday he feels “great” going into the game after suffering a 25-foot fall in January.

“I’m 100 percent healed. I had a concussion that tore ligaments in my neck, had a punctured lung and I broke my pelvis, and I feel 100 percent,” Steube said. “My goal was actually to be 100 percent by this game.”

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Steube had been a motivating factor to get up and practice for his first Congressional Baseball Game, in a Fox News interview Wednesday.

Some of the lawmakers breaking out their mitts include Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.).

Last year’s Congressional Baseball Game raised $1.7 million for local charities, according to lawmakers. A portion of the funds raised has been given to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund ever since officers responded to a shooting at the Republican practice on June 14, 2017.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) was shot in the left hip by an Illinois man who was reportedly upset that Donald Trump had been elected president. Scalise, one of five people wounded at the practice, underwent multiple surgeries in the weeks that followed.

On Wednesday during team warm-ups, Scalise told Fox 5 DC that he was “lucky to be alive.”

“If you look at what happened that day, the gunman shows up wanting to take out all of us on the ball field that morning — and everybody’s alive except the shooter. God performed miracles that day,” Scalise said.

Wednesday’s game is slated to start at 7:05 p.m. EST at Nationals Park. Those not attending in person can view the game on C-SPAN or Fox Sports 1.