Congressional Baseball Game Draws a Big Crowd, Benefits Charities
The congressional baseball game takes place on July 28, where Republicans will go against the Democrats. Which charities benefit from the game?
July 28 2022, Published 1:23 p.m. ET
The Republican team at the 2021 Congressional Baseball Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game took place last Tuesday, where the league’s top talents from the American League and National League went face-to-face with each other. However, there's another all-star baseball game this summer, and that game is gearing up to be just as competitive as the MLB’s annual summer event. The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity takes place on July 28, and some of the biggest politicians in the country compete against one another.
While Democrats and Republicans are known to always have conflicts between one another, the Congressional Baseball Game aims to help bring peace between the two parties, even if it’s only for one day. The annual event has been around for over a century, as the first matchup took place in 1909. Over the years, the game has started to attract larger crowds. Officials will increase security measures for the game in 2022 amid expected protests.
What is the Congressional Baseball Game?
The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity is an annual baseball game that's played each summer by Democrat and Republican members of Congress. What was once just a game being played for fun, the annual event now raises money for different charities in the Washington, D.C. area. Since 1962, the game has been played every year consistently, except in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The baseball event has taken place in Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals, since 2008. The Republicans lead the series 43-42-1, winning the previous matchup 13-12. Before the 2021 matchup, the Democrats won the three previous years. The historic sports event used to be not that popular to go watch in person, but its popularity has grown. Ticket sales have spiked and the game was even televised on Fox’s FS1 channel in 2021.
Who’s playing in this year’s Congressional Baseball Game?
There are over 20 different political figures on each team, from all around the U.S. Members of the Democrat roster include Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, and California Representative Raul Ruiz. Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle and New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell are serving as the coaches.
The Republican’s side includes Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, California Rep. Mike Garcia, and Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis. Texas Rep. Roger Williams is the head coach. In 2017, while the Republican players were practicing a day before the big game, a gunman opened fire on the politicians, where the person was eventually killed by Capitol Police. State officials have increased the security for this year’s event to ensure that an attack of that nature doesn’t occur again.
What charities benefit from the baseball game?
The money that's generated from the game goes towards the Congressional Sports for Charity, a foundation that was launched by U.S. Congress members. The foundation supports D.C. charities such as the Washington Literacy Center, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, Washington Nationals Philanthropies, and the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.
The game is sponsored by many large-scale companies such as Amazon, Google, Disney, UPS, Pepsico, Meta, and more. Those who want to attend the game can still purchase tickets and parking on MLB’s website or they can watch the game on FS1 at 7:05 p.m. EST.