When lawmakers take the field at Nationals Park this Wednesday, the annual Congressional Baseball Game will carry more than the usual partisan bragging rights. Democrats are desperate to end a five-year losing streak, but the GOP is poised to bring a ringer: Mark Teixeira, a retired New York Yankees slugger running for Congress in a safely Republican Texas district.
The game, one of Washington’s oldest traditions, has become a marquee networking event for lawmakers, lobbyists, and Hill aides. More than 30,000 attendees are expected, and this year’s edition has already raised nearly $3 million for charities including the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and the U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund.
GOP Confident, Democrats Scrambling
Republicans, managed by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), return a largely unchanged roster from last summer. Williams, who also chairs the Congressional Baseball Caucus, boiled down his team’s strategy: “Baseball is pretty simple… It’s all about throwing strikes. If you throw strikes, you usually win, and we’ve got guys that can do that.”
Democrats, led by manager Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), acknowledge the challenge. “Yeah, they’re always a little smug, but whatever,” she said of the GOP. “We’ve had a thin bullpen.” The return of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) bolsters Democratic depth, and Sánchez noted her teammates are putting in extra work. “It’s pretty evident in how well they’re doing at the plate that their hitting has improved,” she said. “One of our issues has been we have leadoff batters that get on and we’ve had a hard time scoring runs. So, we’re hoping it’ll be a real slugfest this year.”
The Teixeira Factor
The biggest wild card is Teixeira, who won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009 and led the American League in home runs that year. He’s running for the House seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a district Republicans are heavily favored to hold. Though not yet a member of Congress, his potential arrival has already shifted pre-game chatter.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) joked that Democrats need to “draft a major league baseball player to come and play for us.” When asked how Democrats would handle Teixeira, Gallego replied, “We’re just going to walk him every time we have an opportunity.” Teixeira, for his part, told The Hill he hasn’t played in nearly a decade and expects “some rust to knock off” should voters send him to Washington.
The game’s history includes standout performances from members like former Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), once called “The Babe Ruth of Congress” by The New York Times, and Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), one of only two lawmakers to hit an out-of-the-park home run. The event was thrust into the national spotlight after a 2017 mass shooting at a Republican practice that wounded House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and several others.
Mark Johnson of the Congressional Sports for Charity foundation noted the intense interest. “The buzz started as soon as last year’s game ended. We have a waiting list of people wanting to get involved and there’s nothing left to sponsor. The players are pumped… They are clearly focused on winning.”
For Democrats, the pressure is mounting. As Sánchez put it, “We’re hoping it’ll be a real slugfest this year.” But with a five-year losing streak and the specter of Teixeira looming, the odds remain stacked against them.
