[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11889-11890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       REPUBLICANS TRIUMPH IN ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL GAME

  (Mr. OXLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, today is the day of bragging rights for the 
congressional baseball game. I am proud to

[[Page 11890]]

announce that the Republican team won 9 to 1 on Thursday night. I want 
to thank Martin Sabo and all the Democrat participants as well as our 
own team for a wonderful game. We had over 3,000 people come out to the 
Baysox ballpark for the game and raised over $90,000 for charity, the 
Washington Literacy Council and the Boys and Girls Club of Washington.
  We are very, very proud of that. This is a great tradition. This is 
the 40th congressional game in the modern era. I want to thank 
everybody who participated.
  I thought I would immortalize this year's game in poetry so it goes 
down in the literary, as well as the sports, annals and, in the 
process, raising the level of culture a little bit in this great 
Chamber.
  Many of my colleagues may remember this famous poem by Gerald Hern on 
the old Boston Braves pitching stars, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. 
They were the team's only two reliable pitchers:

     First we'll use Spahn
     and then we'll use Sain.
     Then an off day
     followed by rain.
     Back will come Spahn
     followed by Sain
     and followed we hope
     by 2 days of rain.

  With apologies to Mr. Hern, I have adapted his poem into an ode to my 
starting pitcher and MVP, Steve Largent, the gentleman from Oklahoma.

     First we'll use Largent
     and then we'll pitch him again.
     As long as his arm's good
     we'll pitch him in sun or in rain.
     Sadly, now he's retired like Spahn and like Sain
     I probably won't see his likes again.
     Auditioning new pitchers will be a big pain
     because you know from last year
     that walks drive me insane.
     There's just one more honor
     at which Steve can now aim,
     not Governor but induction
     in the Roll Call Baseball Hall of Fame.

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