{"id":11731,"date":"2017-06-15T20:20:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/06\/15\/we-will-not-give-in-to-fear-congress-is-still-ready-to-play-ball\/"},"modified":"2017-06-15T20:20:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T20:20:00","slug":"we-will-not-give-in-to-fear-congress-is-still-ready-to-play-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/we-will-not-give-in-to-fear-congress-is-still-ready-to-play-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"'We Will Not Give In To Fear': Congress Is Still Ready To Play Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Miles Parks<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n The Congressional Baseball Game is to be played at Nationals Park on Thursday night, just a day after Rep. Steve Scalise was critically injured in a shooting during practice in Virginia.<\/p>\n

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Greg Fiume\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Greg Fiume\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Although the weather in Washington looks headed toward a near-flawless summer night, an obvious and immovable shadow is being cast over Thursday night’s Congressional Baseball Game \u2014 a tradition that began more than a century ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, is still in critical condition after undergoing his third surgery Thursday morning as a result of a gunshot wound to his hip. He was one of four wounded by a gunman Wednesday in an attack on a Republican team practice<\/a> in Virginia.<\/p>\n

The FBI says the shooter, 66-year-old James Hodgkinson<\/a>, was killed by police.<\/p>\n

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Since the shooting, members of Congress have spoken about a need for unity, at a time when polarization seems to be<\/a> at an all-time high. This year’s baseball game, played at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, looks to be a place where members can show it.<\/p>\n

“The Congressional Baseball Game has never been about Republicans against Democrats,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., in an opinion piece he wrote for CNN<\/a>. “It’s about Republicans and Democrats.”<\/p>\n

Aguilar plays outfield for the Democratic team; before the shooting, Scalise was slated to play second base for the Republicans.<\/p>\n

“We will not give in to fear, violence or hate,” Aguilar said. “We will play for those affected by these despicable and cowardly actions, to support local charities … and to remind the American people that this violence will not define or divide us.”<\/p>\n

Thursday’s matchup represents a tiebreaker in the series. Democrats have won seven of the last eight games, bringing the overall series to an even 39-39-1 (the teams played multiple times in some years).<\/p>\n

The deciding factor will probably be Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who may be the best to have ever played<\/a> in the game.<\/p>\n

“I think anybody that ever played baseball, the dream was to play in a major league stadium,” Richmond said last year.<\/p>\n

The baseball tradition is said to have forged a friendship between Richmond and fellow Louisiana Rep. Scalise.<\/p>\n