Then annual Congressional Baseball Game is Rep. Roger Williams’s (R., Texas) Super Bowl. Williams and the Republican team spend months preparing to face off against the Democrats in one of the most highly-anticipated baseball games that is played at Nationals Park.
The Washington Reporter joined Williams and his team for an early morning batting practice, and the GOP’s coach told the Reporter in an interview why he’s excited for the game — and much more.
“We’ve created a culture of baseball around here for this great game that not only is a great game, but it’s great for the fans,” he explained. “There are 40,000 people in the stands, and it also does great stuff for charity, which is what it’s designed to do. It’s been played since 1913. People don’t realize that, and that’s a tradition. I think every year it gets better, and I’m finding people, if they’re not the ball game next Wednesday, where the heck are they?”
While the Republicans blew the Democrats out last year, there is no sign that the team is resting on its laurels.
“You saw that our guys can hit,” he told the Reporter in a scouting report after hours of batting practice. “We can hit, we score runs, and the whole thing about us, is that we will win if we don’t give the Democrats more than three outs an inning. You can’t drop balls, you can’t make errors, you can’t give them four or five outs an inning, and that’s true with any team. And they’ve been working out like we have, so it’ll be good.”
While both teams are heavily dominated by members of the House of Representatives, Sens. Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.) and Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) have been mainstays of the GOP team for years.
Williams said that the duo from the Upper Chamber has “probably” led to legislative collaboration that wouldn’t have happened over the years, but added that the priority is winning.
“We’re Republicans, we’re on the baseball team, the Senate and House distinctions don’t really mean much when we get out here,” he said. That distinction is critical, because, while the game is “bipartisan, [] it’s not bipartisan. Democrats want to beat us, and we want to beat them. We want to receive that trophy in the halls of Congress, and it’s created a pretty good game. Even the Japanese have even mentioned to us about playing our team, so it’s created a lot of excitement.”
One Senate candidate who Williams is optimistic will not be playing for either team next year is James Talarico, who is running in an uphill battle against Texas’s Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to succeed Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas).
“I don’t think he’s good at too much,” Williams said of Talarico. “But if he plays, he’ll have to be loose in the box.” However, he quickly said that his coaching advice for Talarico is immaterial, because “he won’t win.” Paxton, who is “a good friend” of Williams, is an unknown commodity on the baseball diamond, but Williams is already predicting that he probably won’t join the GOP’s team if he wins, as is expected.
Given the recent history of the game, Republicans are likely favored to win this year. But multiple players eagerly looked ahead to next year’s game already, when Republican Mark Teixeira — a former professional baseball player — is likely to win a seat in Congress and join Williams in the Texas delegation.
“Everybody talks about Mark Teixeira,” Williams said. “He’ll be our first baseman.”
But, Williams cautioned, everyone does not talk about what happens in the batting cage.
“Everybody’s got a nickname, and everybody’s got a story they can tell around the batting cage, but nothing leaves the batting cage,” he told the Reporter when pressed for additional details about his team. “It’s like Las Vegas, right? What happens in Vegas stays there. What happens in the batting cage stays there.”
Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Roger Williams, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Congressman, how do you have the energy to be up and at ’em in these mornings when it seems like some of your players don’t have the energy that you have?
Rep. Roger Williams:
They’re not as young as I am, that’s the problem. We’ve been working out since the first week in March. We get here at 5:30 and we work up to about 7:15. It’s a commitment; we’ve got a good team, we’ve created a culture of baseball around here for this great game that not only is a great game, but it’s great for the fans. There are 40,000 people in the stands, and it also does great stuff for charity, which is what it’s designed to do. It’s been played since 1913. People don’t realize that, and that’s a tradition. I think every year it gets better, and I’m finding people, if they’re not the ball game next Wednesday, where the heck are they?
Washington Reporter:
Unfortunately, I’ll be in Ukraine for it, which is why I’m here this morning. I’m not going to imply that you’ve been here since 1913, but how has it evolved since you joined Congress, and since you got super involved with it?
Rep. Roger Williams:
We’ve seen some really good players come out. We’ve seen commitment. Guys don’t miss practice, they want to come to practice. We’ve even had people come to us to be cheerleaders. It’s become a social event, but at the same time we talk about things being bipartisan. It’s bipartisan, but it’s not bipartisan. Democrats want to beat us, and we want to beat them. We want to receive that trophy in the halls of Congress, and it’s created a pretty good game. Even the Japanese have even mentioned to us about playing our team, so it’s created a lot of excitement. It’s a tradition that just keeps getting bigger.
Washington Reporter:
It does seem to me like year in, year out, the Republicans take practice more seriously than the Democrats do. What do you attribute that to?
Rep. Roger Williams:
Well, I’m not sure, because I don’t watch them practice, but I can tell you that we have a strong commitment. If you’re going to be committed more than us, you’re going to be pretty good.
Washington Reporter:
Give us a little scouting report of what you saw today at in practice.
Rep. Roger Williams:
You saw that our guys can hit. We can hit, we score runs, and the whole thing about us, is that we will win if we don’t give the Democrats more than three outs an inning. You can’t drop balls, you can’t make errors, you can’t give them four or five outs an inning, and that’s true with any team. And they’ve been working out like we have, so it’ll be good.
Washington Reporter:
Eric Schmitt was talking to me about how it’s been helpful for him as a senator to come play here with a bunch of congressmen. You have Eric Schmitt and Joni Ernst as regulars. Has there been any legislative cooperation that’s come out of specifically your work on the Congressional Baseball Game?
Rep. Roger Williams:
I think there probably has been. We’re Republicans, we’re on the baseball team, the Senate and House distinctions don’t really mean much when we get out here. Everybody’s got a nickname, and everybody’s got a story they can tell around the batting cage, but nothing leaves the batting cage. It’s like Las Vegas, right? What happens in Vegas stays there. What happens in the batting cage stays there.
Washington Reporter:
Was there anyone on the team for this year who’s been a particularly pleasant surprise for you?
Rep. Roger Williams:
We’ve got basically the same team we’ve had, but we’ve had a couple new guys come, and then next year, of course, everybody talks about Mark Teixeira. He’ll be our first baseman.
Washington Reporter:
What is RBI PAC focused on between now and November? Mark Teixeira is almost too obvious for that. Are there other guys that you’re excited for around the country?
Rep. Roger Williams:
RBI PAC, as you know, is to help the guys we want to play, but he’s absolutely on the team. We’ve created a culture there where we’ve got a little political side, but people like to give to RBI PAC, because they know they’re helping the future of the game.
Washington Reporter:
Other than Teixeira, is there anyone who you’re already excited about for next year?
Rep. Roger Williams:
We’ve got some. It’s not just baseball; we help guys who are good conservatives who want to play baseball. It’s important for them to also want to defend America as well.
Washington Reporter:
Do you think that James Talarico is good at baseball?
Rep. Roger Williams:
I don’t think he’s good at too much. I’ll go with that, but if he plays, he’ll have to be loose in the box.
Washington Reporter:
I assume you do not think that he will win.
Rep. Roger Williams:
No, he won’t win.
Washington Reporter:
Are you trying to get Ken Paxton on the team next year?
Rep. Roger Williams:
I don’t know. Paxton is a good friend of mine. He’s a Baylor Bear. I’m not so sure he’s a baseball player, though. But we’ll see.
Washington Reporter:
It seems like you can turn anyone into a baseball player.
Rep. Roger Williams:
Well, not anyone. They’ve gotta listen first, and they can’t be afraid of the ball.
Washington Reporter:
Good luck, coach.
