House Majority Whip Rep Steve Scalise (R-La.) is helped off the field by Lousiana Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond (right) and Ohio Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup (left). | Alex Edelman/Getty Images
By DIDI MARTINEZ and MARIA CURI[1]
06/14/2018 11:37 PM EDT
Sportsmanship is supposed to define the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, bringing Democrats and Republicans together away from the Capitol. But last year, it was a tragedy surrounding the event that united their parties.
On June 14, 2017, no one knew whether Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) would live or die after a gunman opened fire on a GOP practice for the game. Scalise was shot in the left hip by an Illinois man who was reportedly upset that Donald Trump had been elected president. The lawmaker, one of five people wounded at the practice in Alexandria, Virginia, underwent multiple surgeries in the weeks that followed.
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“For all the noise and all the fury, we are one family,” House Speaker Ryan said that afternoon.
Exactly one year later, Scalise was cheered as he came onto the field Thursday night for the annual game at Nationals Park. As he prepared to take second base — the same position he was playing when wounded last year — he was escorted by David Bailey and Crystal Griner, the Capitol Police officers who had taken down the gunman despite suffering injuries themselves.
It didn’t take long for Scalise to
