The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity

vs.
Location	Washington, DC
Teams	Democratic Party Republican Party
First meeting	1909
Latest meeting	2025: Republicans (13–2)
Broadcasters	C-SPAN Fox Sports 1
Stadiums	1909:American League Park II 1911: Georgetown Field 1912–1919:National Park 1926–1957:Griffith Stadium 1962–1968:D.C. Stadium 1969–1972:RFK Stadium 1973–1976:Memorial Stadium 1977:Langley High School 1978–1994:Four Mile Run Park 1995–2004:Prince George's Stadium 2005–2007:RFK Stadium 2008–present:Nationals Park
Statistics
Most wins	Republicans: 47
All-time record	47–42 (Republicans lead)
Largest victory	1928: Democrats (36–4)
Smallest victory	1983: none (17–17)
Website	congressionalbaseball.org

The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity^[1] is an annualbaseball game played each summer by members of theUnited States Congress. The game began as a casual event among colleagues in 1909^[2] and eventually evolved into one ofWashington, D.C.'s most anticipated annual pastimes, according to theHouse of Representatives Office of the Historian. In the game,Republicans andDemocrats form separate teams and play against each other.

Today, the game raises money for four charities: theBoys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, theWashington Nationals Dream Foundation, the Washington Literacy Center,^[3] and—following apre-game practice shooting in 2017—the US Capitol Police Memorial Fund.^[4][5][6] The game is usually attended by crowds of congressional staffers, congressional families and, occasionally, even dignitaries andUS presidents.^[7]

The 1909 game was organized by RepresentativeJohn Tener ofPennsylvania, a former professional baseball player.^[3] TheBoston Daily Globe observed, "The game was brewing for weeks and the members of the house were keyed up a high pitch of enthusiasm. Deep, dark rumors were in circulation that 'ringers' would be introduced, but when they lined up at 4 o'clock the nine Republicans were stalwart, grand old party men, while the Democrats were of the pure Jeffersonian strain."^[8]

TheDemocrats beat theirRepublican opponents, 26–16 in the first game, and continued their winning streak for the first six games. Republicans won their first game in 1916. Due to its growing popularity, the Congressional Baseball Game was first covered via radio in 1928. The radio broadcast continued in succeeding years.^[8]

The event has, at times, interrupted the workflow of Congress. In 1914, SpeakerJames Beauchamp "Champ" Clark ofMissouri became frustrated with the Congressional Baseball Game interfering with legislative business. Once, the House was to debate an appropriations bill onCivil War cotton damage, but a quorum was not present because of the game.

Despite its appeal, the annual game occurred intermittently because of interruptions due to theGreat Depression, the Second World War, and intervention by the House leadership. The game was held biennially until theWashington Evening Star newspaper sponsored it annually from 1946 to 1958. Despite the sponsorship,SpeakerSam Rayburn ofTexas ended the game in 1958, saying it had become too physically straining on the members and was causing injuries.^[8] With the new sponsor, theRoll Call Trophy was created, for the team that wins eachbest-of-five series. It was first awarded in 1965—to the Republican team, the first team to win three games sinceRoll Call had begun its sponsorship. Since 1965, a newtrophy is awarded to the next team to win three games (over the next three, four, or five years), following the year in which the most recent trophy was awarded. As of the 2017 game, 14 trophies have been awarded—ten to the Republicans' team and four to the Democrats' team.^[9]

On June 14, 2017, one day before the annual event, a gunmanopened fire on Republican members of Congress who werepracticing for the next day's game.^[10] Four people were shot includingHouse Majority WhipSteve Scalise. The gunman was killed byCapitol Police.^[11] TheFederal Bureau of Investigation classified the shooting as an act ofdomestic terrorism.^[12] Despite discussions about postponing the game, it was held as scheduled.^[3][13] The shooting resulted in a dramatic increase in interest for the game; it was reported that revenue from ticket sales and online donations had exceeded $1 million, and organizers stated that 24,959 people were in attendance.^[14]C-SPAN announced that it would televise the game,^[15] and the 2021 game was televised byFS1 as well.^[16]

The game was initially played atAmerican League Park II. However, after the park's destruction in a fire in March 1911, it was played at theGriffith Stadium built on the same site in Northwest Washington, D.C. In 1962, it was moved to the new District Stadium (later renamedRobert F. Kennedy Stadium). It remained there until 1972 when the Washington Senators moved to Texas, becoming theTexas Rangers as RFK did not need a long-term baseball seating layout or field. It moved for the next two decades to theMemorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, then toLangley High School in McLean, Virginia for 1977; andFour Mile Run Park in Alexandria, Virginia. From 1995 to 2004, the game was played inPrince George's Stadium in Bowie, Maryland. From 2005 to 2007, the event returned to RFK Stadium when theMontreal Expos moved to Washington to become theWashington Nationals. In 2008,Nationals Park was completed, and the Nationals moved there along with the Congressional Baseball Game.^[17]

In the late 1960s, a post-game reception for members of Congress and their staff was organized and sponsored bySears, Roebuck and Company. However, attendance was meager until 1972 when Sears' Washington office Public Information Officer Larry Horist took over the management of the event and established the Most Valuable Player awards to be voted by each team and presented by the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate. He also obtained photos of the players in their hometown uniforms, producing baseball cards packaged in gum wrappers. A limited number of autographed master sheets of the cards occasionally appear for sale on Internet auction sites. The cards included such personalities as SenatorEugene McCarthy (D-MN),Barry Goldwater, Jr. (R-AZ), and professional player"Vinegar Bend" Mizell (R-NC). The cards were publicized inThe Washington Post and became part of the permanent collection of theBaseball Hall of Fame.^[18]

While the modern Congressional Baseball Game comprises both House and Senate Members, this was not always the case. From 1909 to 1949, House Members exclusively filled the rosters—although there appears to have been no prohibition against Senators. Bicameral baseball was inaugurated in 1950, when SenatorHarry P. Cain ofWashington joined the Republican team and Senator-electGeorge Smathers ofFlorida, a former Representative, joined the Democratic team.^[19]

In a few cases, former professional baseball players were elected to Congress and impacted the game. In the case ofWilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell ofNorth Carolina, a former professional pitcher, the Republican team was victorious for each year that he played. Fielding a once-a-year team presented some problems for members, who often grew rusty when it came to batting. Strong pitching proved decisive in most games but, in 1963, neither team could field a pitcher. As a result, relief pitcherGeorge Susce of theWashington Senators pitched for both teams.^{[citation needed]}

In 1917, RepresentativeJeannette Rankin ofMontana tossed out the first pitch and kept score, becoming the first woman to participate in the annual event. More than 70 years later, in 1993, RepresentativesIleana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida,Maria Cantwell of Washington, andBlanche Lincoln ofArkansas became the first women to break into the starting lineup.^[19]

In 1971, the firstAfrican Americans joined the game.DelegateWalter E. Fauntroy of the District of Columbia and Rep.Ron Dellums ofCalifornia joined the Democratic roster. Despite Fauntroy's hitting prowess, the Democrats lost their eighth straight annual game, 7–3.^[19]

In 1909, Rep.Joseph F. O'Connell ofMassachusetts hit the first home run, gaining three runs for the Democrats. In the same year, Republican representativeEdward B. Vreeland ofNew York was the first player to be withdrawn due to an injury. In 1957, Rep.Gerald Ford ofMichigan hit the first known grand slam, while playing for the Republicans.^[20] In 1979, Republican representativeRon Paul ofTexas hit what is believed to be the first home run hit over the fence.^[21] Reps.John Shimkus ofIllinois andGreg Steube ofFlorida are the only other players to hit out-of-the-park home runs, doing so in 1997 and 2021, respectively.^[21][22] Paul was inducted into the Congressional Baseball Hall of Fame before the 2012 game.^[23]

TheRoll Call Congressional BaseballHall of Fame was founded in 1993 and a brief description of each of the inductees through 2011 is available via the sponsor's website.^[21]

In the early years of the game, each team wore a uniform that was either plain or had the words "Republicans" or "Democrats" embroidered on it. In modern games, members typically wear uniforms of the professional baseball teams orcollege baseball teams in their congressional district or home state. In the 1920s, pomp and fanfare preceded each game. TheUnited States Navy Band andUnited States Marine Corps Band traditionally kicked off the festivities with patriotic tunes. In 1926, the Republicans paraded into American League Field on a live elephant, while in 1932, both teams had costumed mascots entertain the crowds. During the 1960s, the teams had cheerleaders dressed in uniforms.^[26]

• 
  Members of the Republican team in 1926
• 
  The Republican Team in the 1920s
• 
  Representatives Clyde Kelly (left) and Thomas McMillan in the 1920s
• 
  Participants in the 2017 game wearing various baseball jerseys
• PresidentJoe Biden at the 2021 Game
• 
  House SpeakerMike Johnson at the 2025 Game

As of the 2025 game, Republicans lead the series, 47–42–1. The official website of the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity seemingly does not count three of those Republican wins because its History page listed (in 2017, but before the 2017 game) the series record as 39–39–1 (in a blue, red, white, and black bar near the bottom of the page). However, the same page states—in reference to the Roll Call Trophy—that "[t]o date, 10 of these coveted trophies have been awarded, eight to the Republicans and two to the Democrats."^[27] That statement indicates that the paragraphs of the History page were probably written after the 2002 game and before the 2005 game because the tenth trophy was awarded in 2002 and the eleventh trophy was awarded in 2005.

The Republicans won their 35th game in 2002 and then won seven more games after that (in 2003 to 2008, plus 2016). As of 2002, the Democrats had won 32 games; from 2003 to 2016, the Democrats won seven more games, for 39 wins (as of the 2016 game). Although the series record outlined in the bar near the bottom of the page includes the Democrats' seven wins between 2003 and 2016, the bar includes only four of the Republicans' seven wins during that same period.^[28] Scores, locations, and other details of past games are available here to the extent they are known.^[29] Democrats enjoyed consistent success throughout the 2010s as CongressmanCedric Richmond was the Democrats' reliable starting pitcher in addition to being the best hitter of the decade.^[30] The Republicans have won every game since Richmond's 2021 before-game retirement from Congress, including a 31–11 blowout in 2024, which saw the highest number of runs scored by a single team since 1928.

• Congressional Soccer Match

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