{"id":206,"date":"2026-06-08T16:39:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=206"},"modified":"2026-06-08T16:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:39:53","slug":"bitter-rivalry-at-the-congressional-baseball-game-sort-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=206","title":{"rendered":"Bitter rivalry? At the Congressional Baseball Game, sort of"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Democrats are looking to break a five-year losing streak at Wednesday night\u2019s Congressional Baseball Game, hoping a revamped roster will be enough to beat Republicans.<\/p>\n

Read more Lawsuit to stop \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund moot, DOJ tells court<\/a><\/p>\n

But partisan rivalry aside, research suggests the game may boost legislative collaboration.<\/p>\n

Playing baseball gives legislators the chance to forge bonds outside the halls of the Capitol, according to SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, an assistant professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

Gaynor got the idea when former Reps. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., and Charles Boustany, R-La., spoke to an undergraduate class she was teaching and seemed glad to see each other. They explained they had become friends through the Congressional Baseball Game.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter class, one of my students and I were like, this is interesting, I wonder if this is a one-off thing or not? So we tracked down all the rosters with the clerk\u2019s office, and we also collected every co-sponsorship that occurred in the House \u2026 and matched up the data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crunching the numbers, they that congressional baseball players were more likely to sign on to legislation together, even across party lines. For example, when two members of the 117th Congress participated in the game, the likelihood of a bipartisan co-sponsorship of legislation together was 56 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is research on co-sponsorship and what makes people more likely to co-sponsor, and a lot of it is that there\u2019s already an existing shared connection \u2014 like females are more likely to co-sponsor with one another, or people from the same state. But the effects of playing on the baseball team were even higher,\u201d said Gaynor, whose findings appeared in a recent issue of American Politics Research. \u201cSo, there\u2019s something to be said for being removed from the Capitol, removed from a formal caucus meeting and just becoming friends first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still a rivalry<\/h2>\n

Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, a Republican team coach, isn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody says it\u2019s bipartisan, and it is, but it\u2019s not,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Democrats are practicing every day like we are. They want to beat us, we want to beat them. There\u2019s bragging rights at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams ought to know. The GOP has come out on top for the past five games in a row, often in a rout. Last year, Republicans won 13-2, which was actually a modest victory by congressional baseball standards. In 2024, the elephants walloped the Democrats 31-11.<\/p>\n

Given that success, Williams has no intention of changing the team\u2019s formula. In fact, he plans to run the same starting lineup as last year, with Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., on the mound to start the game.<\/p>\n

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Democrats are keenly aware of their past failures on the baseball diamond, but their coach, Rep. Linda T. S\u00e1nchez, D-Calif., says the team has worked to be more competitive this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we really suffered from things that were beyond our control in terms of substituting players in and out,\u201d she said. \u201cSo this year I think the guys have taken it a lot more seriously. A lot of them have been practicing a lot more outside of our team practices, and the individual work that they have put into it is clearly having benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democrats have made some significant roster changes as well. More than a quarter of last year\u2019s squad will not be returning this year, some by choice, others because of scandal, such as former California Rep. Eric Swalwell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few rookies will take their places, including Democratic Reps. Sarah Elfreth of Maryland, Christian Menefee of Texas, Josh Riley of New York and Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our guys are looking particularly good at the plate, so hopefully it\u2019ll be an exciting slug fest,\u201d said S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Williams thinks fans will get a good show Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got people coming up from Texas, and they asked me this question: \u2018What\u2019s it going to be like when I see the game?\u2019 I said, it\u2019s just like the Red Sox and Yankees, exactly the same thing, except for one key difference \u2014 it\u2019s in slow motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the talent is a far cry from the majors, last year\u2019s game sold more than 31,000 tickets at Nationals Park, surpassing the Nationals\u2019 own average attendance of less than 24,000. It also raised a record-breaking $2.8 million for charity. Funds raised from ticket sales and donations go to Congressional Sports for Charity, a foundation that supports D.C.-area nonprofits and scholarships.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not [at] the baseball game, you\u2019re nowhere,\u201d said Williams. \u201cRemember when you were in high school and you were playing your in-town rival, and nobody wanted to be in class, the teachers didn\u2019t want to teach, everybody wanted to get out to the ballpark? It\u2019s kind of that way on game day here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year the event falls during a busy week for Congress that is expected to include House action on a Senate-passed budget reconciliation bill and tense negotiations over extending section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.<\/p>\n

Read more Justice Department moving forward with grant office changes<\/a><\/p>\n

The game begins Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. at Nationals Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats are looking to break a five-year losing streak at Wednesday night\u2019s Congressional Baseball Game, hoping a revamped roster will be enough to beat Republicans. But partisan rivalry aside, research suggests the game may boost legislative collaboration. Playing baseball gives legislators the chance to forge bonds outside the halls of the Capitol, according to SoRelle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heard-on-the-hill"],"yoast_head":"\nBitter rivalry? 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