[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15698-15699]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL GAME

  (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last Thursday evening, at Nationals 
Stadium, we had the 47th Annual Congressional Baseball Game. The true 
winners of the game were the Washington Literacy Council and the Boys & 
Girls Clubs of the Washington, D.C. area.
  In terms of the score on the field, in the most thrilling game that I 
have been associated with in the last 21 years that I have played, 
coached or managed, in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded 
and one out and the Democrats leading 10-9, Connie Mack hit a dart back 
to the pitcher, Mr. Baca, who threw home for a force out making two 
outs. And then unfortunately for my friends on the Democratic side, the 
catcher overthrew the first baseman allowing two runs to score, the 
winning run by the speedy Adam Putnam of Florida for a thrilling 11-10 
victory. Our MVP on the Republican side was Kevin Brady of The 
Woodlands, Texas.
  The class of 1996, which includes Kevin Brady, MVP; Kenny Hulshof, 
who was our first baseman, Chip Pickering; the third baseman; Jeff 
Flake, center fielder; Virgil Goode, right fielder; Tom Davis, one of 
our tricaptains; Pete Sessions, our third-base coach; and Sam Graves 
who was a pinch runner and hitter, those players in the 12 years that 
they have played in the game have an 11-1 record, which I think is 
amazing.
  I want to thank Speaker  Nancy Pelosi for attending the game, 
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer for attending the game, and I want to thank 
my good friend, Mike Doyle, for his excellent job of managing. It can 
truly be said that this year, the Democrats had victory in their grasp 
and took pity on us and allowed us to win one more time.
  Mr. DOYLE. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. I will be happy to yield.
  Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, as manager of the Democratic team, we want to 
congratulate our friends over on the Republican side in what had to be 
one of the most exciting games, certainly for the fans to watch, a 
little less exciting from our perspective. I just want to say our guys, 
the top of the seventh inning, we were down 8-4, and it was our last 
at-bat. And it would have been easy to fold. But our guys came back, 
scored six runs to put this game into the bottom of the seventh inning 
in one of the most exciting games we've seen. I think parity has 
finally arrived in the House baseball game.
  We look forward to playing our friends across the aisle next year.
  The big winner, of course, is our charities, the Washington Boys & 
Girls Clubs and the Washington Literacy Council. We have co-MVPs this 
year. Joe Baca pitched another outstanding performance for the 
Democrats. And one of our new Members, who caught an outstanding game 
and who had a hot bat for us, Chris Murphy, was our co-MVP.
  Once again, if you have to lose to somebody, Joe Barton is the kind 
of

[[Page 15699]]

guy you don't mind losing to. He is a great gentleman, a big fan of the 
game and one of my dear friends.
  Congratulations, Joe. Congratulations to the Republicans.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Thank you.
  I will say, Mr. Speaker, that with our retirements, I am now open, 
assuming I am the manager, I would love to have some new blood. If 
there are some Democrats who didn't get playing time, if you want to 
switch parties, we are open for business. And to Tom Cole at the NRCC, 
please, please recruit us some new flat bellies.
  Mr. DOYLE. Will the gentleman yield?
  If we're going to have so many new players next year, we might have 
some extras for you.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Thank you.

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