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The On the Hill: Breaking Down DC podcast is a collection of sharing more about what’s happening in DC without the bias, ways for you to get involved with the US government, and interviews with friends, colleagues who can help pull back the proverbial curtain of Washington, DC. Katherine Getty, host of the OTH podcast, is a 10-year Washingtonian who lives and breathes politics.
Katherine Getty 0:01
Hi, and welcome to the on the Hill podcast with me your host, Katherine Getty. Each Thursday, I'll peel back the curtain of what happens in Washington, from breaking down current events without bias, to interviews with fellow political nerds, and even and maybe most importantly, ways for you to get involved with our US government. Welcome back to another episode of The on the Hill podcast with me your host, Katherine Getty. Today we're going to be talking about the congressional baseball game. It is an annual event in Washington DC where members of Congress, both House of Representatives members, senators, compete in a friendly baseball game. So today we're going to talk about kind of what is the game, the history of it, some of the primary purposes behind it, and where you can watch. So like I said, the congressional baseball game is an annual event in DC. I will say it's after living in DC, it'll be now 11 years and in a couple weeks. It's one of my favorite things to go to because it is so fun to see, you know, the two teams so there's Democrats and Republicans play. It has been going on since 1909. It is usually held at Nashville's Park. So where the MLB team and the NDC play in the primary purposes behind it is one charity to bipartisanship and three recreation. So on the charity front. Proceeds from the game go to what's called the congressional sports for a charity. It's a foundation that provides support to worthy and effective charities in the DC area. So those include the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, the Washington Literacy Center, the Washington Nationals philanthropies alongside the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund, and gratitude to the brave officers at the Republican practice shooting on June 14 2017. And I kind of get choked up thinking about it because it's, you know, it's been seven years since that's happened, but I can remember that day. Like any day, if you're not familiar with what happened it was there was a mass shooting at a baseball practice for Republican members one Thursday. I think it was a Thursday morning. I could be wrong on that. One practice morning. Six people are shot, including who's now House Majority Steve Scalise. Thankfully no one has passed nope, no one passed away from that. But it was a pretty gruesome and if leader Scalise wasn't there at the time he was whip. He had a detail. So he had some security with them. If there had not been those security, those Capitol Police was very brave Capitol police officers, there could have been something much worse happened that morning. And so you know, the charity aspect of it is really important. So supports the DC area and also supports the US Capitol Police Memorial Fund. A second purpose for it is really that bipartisanship, it is so much fun to watch members of Congress and on a daily basis you see in suits and ties and you know, dresses on the hill or whatever they may be wearing, kind of changing to a more sporty version, you know, they're just having fun, it's somebody will take it really seriously. Oftentimes, it's not like, you know, most of the members are in their 40s 50s 60s 70s It's just so much fun to watch them have so much fun. A lot of them are maybe former players, both men and women can play on the congressional baseball team. It's it's so much fun to watch. And like I said, it's one of the my, my favorite events in DC. And there's definitely kind of that recreation, the last purpose it's an opportunity for members of Congress to engage in that physical activity. They are doing, I know, at least on you know, one side that they're practicing, like, early morning, so they have baseball practice, maybe 5:36am before the day starts and so it's it's really a commitment and a, you know, kind of physical fitness feat to see them doing it. So like I said, the congressional baseball game has kind of three purposes that charity that bipartisanship and the recreation and it definitely, you know, where do you watch it, you can come if you're ever in the DC area, I would always see if you're, if you're in the June timeframe, check out and see if it's going to be, you know, happening during the time that you're in DC. The tickets are usually like 10 to $20, if I remember correctly, and it's just so much fun to see live. You can also watch it I know in years past it has been on different TV stations. So like closer to the game, you can check it out. And when I post this audio gram when I post the episode, I'll make sure to let you know if I see where it's going to be. I think last year is on fox sports. But, you know, I wanted to kind of share with you different things about Washington. What's happening in Washington next couple weeks is the congressional baseball game. So I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more About this annual event, and I hope you get a chance to watch it in years to come. But thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of The on the Hill podcast. As always, if you have topics of interest or things you want to learn about, let me know. You can find me on Instagram my personal handle is at Katherine Getty. The podcast handle is on the Hill DC podcast. And as always tune in next week next Thursday for another episode of On the hill.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai