Congressional baseball game takes on greater meaning after shooting – USA TODAY
Lawmakers will continue their congressional baseball game tradition despite the shooting that wounded 5 people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, during the Republican team’s practice. Security will be especially tight.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats took the field for their annual charity baseball game at Nationals Park Thursday, continuing a treasured tradition of setting aside political divisions for a few hours of spirited competition a day after a shooting rampage left a wounded colleague fighting for survival.
The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity took on a serious meaning this year, as organizers and attendees said it was a chance to show the nation that more unites Americans of both parties than divides them, and that the event could not be shut down by a gunman.
“I have some friends who are interns who were talking about going, and after the shooting, I mean, I have to go,” said Emily Cleveland of Danville, Ill., as she entered the stadium for the game. “I think it’s a big statement that they’re still having it. I think it’s saying a lot because it’s America’s pastime. It’s a really American thing to do, to just go ahead anyway.”
A gunman opened fire on the Republican baseball team’s practice on a suburban Virginia field Wednesday, critically wounding Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and injuring three other people as horrified legislators and staffers scrambled for cover amid a barrage of bullets.
Scalise, the third most powerful Republican in the House, was shot through the hip and was listed in critical condition at Medstar Washington Hospital Center Thursday after undergoing a third surgery.
“He’s in some trouble,” President Trump said during a jobs event at the White House Thursday, calling Scalise a “great fighter.”
Lawmakers donned Louisiana State University ball caps in Scalise’s honor.
Capitol Police, who provided security for the practice, killed the shooter, identified by authorities as James Hodgkinson, 66, from Belleville, Ill. Two lawmakers who were leaving practice when they encountered Hodgkinson before the shooting believe he was targeting Republicans.
The shooting only drew more people to the game Thursday evening.
“Last year we set records with $500,000 raised for charity and 10,000 fans, and already we’re topped $1 million in donations and sold more than 20,000 tickets” before game time, said Sean Brown, a volunteer with Congressional Sports Foundation that organizes the event.
That total was all pre-game online sales, and almost half of it came since Wednesday, Brown said.
“Were in town because we’re tourists and I mean I heard about the shooting and I was like, ‘Wow, it would be cool to come today to show support for the congressmen,'” said Otis Amick of Phoenix. “I think a good turnout today would be a good statement against what happened yesterday.”
The congressional game has been a tradition for more than a century.
The first congressional baseball game was organized Rep. John Tener of Pennsylvania in 1909 where the Democrats prevailed 26-16.
The game has been held most every year since, interrupted by major events such as the Great Depression and World War II. Democrats and Republicans each have won 39 times and tied once.
Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, the Democrats’ star pitcher, said he and Scalise are close friends and work together on many local issues, but there’s an intense rivalry on the baseball field.
“We will miss Steve on the field,” Richmond said just before the game and after visiting Scalise in the hospital.
Despite all the talk about bipartisanship in the wake of the shooting, Richmond said the game will be very partisan.
“We will go at it,” he said. “I know Steve wouldn’t have it no other way.”
This year, the charities that will benefit include the Washington Literacy Center, The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, and the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation.
Contributing: Emma Kinery, Katherine Fitzgerald and Deborah Barfield Berry
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