The Capitol Dome

Winter 2012

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Baseball Game Competition for Charity C The In an institution laden with tradition, it should not be a surprise that a base- ball game between Republican and Democratic members of Congress, first played in 1909, continuesmore than 100 years later (fig. 1). Though there have been brief periods when the Congres- sional Baseball Game was not played, the competitive tradition has been largely an annual event in theWashington area. For this one night each year, the competition seen in Congress is carried over to a baseball field, but with an unusual level of fellowship. The real winners in these baseball games are the local charities for whomthe games are played. History and Evolution of the Game THIS ANNUAL GAME was initiated at the urging of John Tener (fig. 2), a one-term RepublicanHousemember fromPennsyl- vania, four months after he took office. Prior to becoming a member of the House, Tener played major league baseball. In the first Congressional Baseball Game, played July 16, 1909, the Democ- rats prevailed 26 to 16. The game lasted 2 THE CAPITOL DOME ongressional By William Stanco seven innings and included 43 hits and 14 errors. The Democrats refused the offer of having Speaker Joe Cannon, a Republican, umpire the game, citing concerns over his objectivity. Instead the assignment went to a New Jersey clergyman and the park groundskeeper. Interestingly, the players in this inaugural game were relatively young, with the average age of the eleven Democrat partici- pants being 36 and the average age of the nine Republican participants being 41. No Democrat was more than 40 years of age and the oldest game participant was the 45- year-old Tener. Despite the relative youth of the partici- pants, not everyone was in "playing condition." After hitting the ball beyond the outfielders for what was described in a newspaper account as a sure home run, Rep. LeonardHowland (R-OH) fell exhausted on second base and called for a replace- ment to finish the run. By comparison, the average age of those on the 2010 game rosterswas considerably older. The average of both the 32Democrats and 28 Republicans was 50 years of age.1 A Figure 2.A baseball card from1889 shows JohnTener in the uniformof the ChicagoWhite Stockings. Early baseball cards such as this onewere issued by cigarette companies. WINTER 2012 COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS AND PHOTOGAPHS DIVISION, BENJAMIN K. EDWARDS COLLECTION COURTESY CHET SUSSLIN/NATIONAL JOURNAL

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