Rounding the Bases

From left: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Donna Edwards and Laura Richardson give high fives as the Members' team is introduced at Wednesday's Congressional Women's Softball Game featuring Congress vs. the media. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

A quick recap of what we learned this week out on the diamond and from behind our laptops:

• Humans aren’t the only ones the humid and nasty heat can have an adverse effect on. During their mob-off, the Hitmen and the Bada Bings had to halt play after a tree in the outfield “spontaneously” caught fire. The episode was bad enough to prompt a firetruck to come out and quell the flames. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries. To check out a live shot of the incident, click here.
• The Bad News Babes, aka the press, handed Members a 13-10 loss in Wednesday’s fourth annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game.  Unlike last year’s 5-4 final, this year’s game was a high-scoring affair, as Members put 9 runs on the board in the final two innings, only to fall short of completing the comeback. Roll Call’s own Abby Livingston was named MVP for the Babes.
• The Congressional Softball League now has a new first-place team after weeks of Bings’ dominance. Booze, Win or Lose is now occupying first place with an impressive 8-0 record. Judging by their name, its easy to imagine how they might have celebrated the feat. In the House Softball League, Texas Republic stands alone in first with a 6-0 record. As for the Senate Softball League, well, it’s hard to gather a definitive answer based on the league site. But the Duelers and the Pacurs lead all teams with five wins.

Softball Tournament Hopes to Be Summer Splash

While softball is already a mainstay of the recreational culture in Washington, D.C., its shadow will loom even larger over the nation’s capital this summer when it gets a tournament akin to NCAA’s March Madness.

The tournament is being put on by the National Conference of State Societies, an organization that promotes social and civic activities among residents of D.C. who come from all over the United States and its five territories.

Under the leadership of Bill Christian, president of the NCSS, softball teams from different leagues with connections to a state or territory can take part in the “Summer Insanity” tournament, scheduled to begin June 30 at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.

Full story

Open Field Left Untouched

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

A chief complaint of many teams this season has been the difficulty of finding an available playing field.

As of this week, the real estate crunch seems to have worsened, at least on the National Mall. Come out the the Smithsonian Metro Station, and you’re greeted by a long line of white tents, similar to ones used at outdoor weddings, on each side.

The Smithsonian website reveals that the tents are connected to the annual Folklife Festival, which kicks off June 27.

On Tuesday, however, something rare happened: The softball field sandwiched in between the Monument and the Vietnam Memorial on 20th and Constitution was vacant.  Indeed, just before 7 p.m., the space was devoid of a single aluminum bat or set of players arriving early to stake out the territory. Full story

Steal at Home Hands Team First Loss of Season

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

All Vols third baseman and left fielder Andy Steele put his last name in action on Monday night when he stole home against the previously undefeated Howard Bitewings (4-0), leading his team to a 23-16 victory in a classic Congressional Softball League game.

Down by one run in the bottom of the sixth, Steele hit what looked like a routine fly ball out. But the outfield of the Bitewings, a team of dental students from Howard University, couldn’t come up with it.

Full story

Team’s Plea Falls on Deaf Ears

What Exit?, the Garden State team in the House Softball League, had a simple Monday request: that their game with Texas Republic be voted the league’s game of the week. And for good reason. The game, set for Thursday, pits What Exit?’s 6-2 record against the 5-0 Texas Republic, who also happens to be sitting atop the league.

The HSL website has a feature every week allowing teams in the league to vote for what they think will be the top game during the seven-day span. The two teams to pull enough votes get some front page-love and a brief summary explaining why others should care about the game. Full story

Rounding the Bases

Here’s a quick recap of what we learned this week out on the diamond and from behind our laptops:

• The Women’s Congressional Softball Game, which pits Members against the press, is on June 20, a mere 5 days away. Tickets for the event are $10 and can be purchased here. Indeed, for only $10  you can donate to a great charity, the Young Survival Coalition, and watch, with the possibility of meeting, some of the biggest names in Washington D.C. Not too shabby a deal.
• A routine House Softball League game between the Hired Guns and the Mastodons took on a Jerry Springer-like twist Tuesday night. The game was cut short after three innings. The exact circumstances remain unclear, but this much it true: it involved cops, a high school janitor and a dented pickup truck. We’re still scratching our heads.
• While some teams need the sound of silence to concentrate on their fielding and hitting duties, the Cap City Brewing Flyers buck tradition by cranking up the jams not only during the pre-game, but in-game. For pre-game, the team  keeps the Pandora dial on an indie rock station that features the sounds of bands half of us have never heard of. When the game gets under way, they turn to the more clubby sounds of Maroon 5 and Rihanna to pump up both their mental state and their bats.
• The MisHits may have the most random team composition: former aides to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) and the Canadian Embassy. Must be some kind of committee connection.

Star Pitcher Propels Team at the Plate

Randall Jefferson, starting pitcher for the Cap City Brewing Flyers, let his bat and glove lead the way tonight in his team’s 10-7 victory over Licensed to IL.

In a premiere House Softball League matchup, the Flyers, a top-five ranked team, entered the game with a 3-1 record.

Hardly a competitive slouch, Licensed to IL, a roster filled with staffers from the Illinois delegation in the House, brought its own polished 3-1 record.

The game lived up to the hype. Full story

Elevated Threat Elevates Play When It Counts

Elevated Threat and the Stroke Signals took their Monday night game down to the wire, with the former defeating the latter, 12-11.

The Stroke Signals, a roster made up of staffers from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, struck early, scoring five runs in the first. Hailing from the Department of Homeland Security, Elevated Threat was down by three runs after one but remained well within striking distance.

While the first inning suggested a possible sloppy slugfest, both teams settled down as the game developed an all-bets-are-off-type rhythm. Over the span of seven innings, the lead changed six times.

After giving up five runs in the top of the fourth, the Signals fired back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, recapturing the lead, 8-7. Full story

Texas Team Boasts an Illustrious Softball History

The RBI’s of Texas, a Senate Softball League team, have yet to play a game this season (scheduling conflicts have hampered early efforts). But don’t let the incomplete record lead you to believe that it’s a novice team trying to find its bearings.

The team has a rich history that goes back to at least 1985, when it was originally called the Gramm Slammers, a tribute to the then-newly elected Sen. Phil Gramm. The team’s first wave of players worked for the Texas Republican at the time.

Today, the team is a collection of staffers from the Texas delegation and players from other teams with roots in the Lone Star State.

“We’ve cobbled together some folks from other Texas teams,” head coach and Division 5 Commissioner Bill Christian said.

Along with a handful of others on the current team, Christian has played for both incarnations of the team.

He took over the coaching reins in the mid-1990s after some time spent away from Washington, D.C., in the Marine Corps.

In 1996, the team played its first season under the new name, an ode to the alma mater of the University of Texas. With the name change, the professional complexion of the team changed as well, adding staffers from the office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).

Over the years, the team has had players who went on to become professional heavyweights, including Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) and Steve McMillin, who was the No. 2 at the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration.

Christian, who now plays sparingly, has an impressive résumé in his own right. He previously worked in the Reagan administration and both Bush White Houses. He was also chief of staff for Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas).

With longevity has come success. According to Christian, the Gramm Slammers won a few division titles back in the 1980s. The RBI’s of Texas have been crowned championed of the SSL twice since the name change.

In 2006, the RBI’s won the championship of their league and the King of the Hill game, which matches the winners of the SSL and the House Softball League. The following season, the team topped its league again but lost the King of the Hill game.

While some might treasure Washington for its landmarks, food and political culture, Christian noted that softball is one of the finer activities the city has to offer, particularly for those here for the long haul.

“It’s probably one of the funnest aspects of life in D.C., waiting for summer to come around and getting out on the Mall and playing softball,” he said. “It’s a fun social outlet in a very overheated environment.”

Women Duel in Senate Softball League Game

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

Tonight’s game between Harkin’s Heroes and the Bama Bangers, a pair of Senate Softball League teams, may have featured a first this season: two female starters.

In a seesaw of a game, the collection of staffers mostly from Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s office walked away victorious in their first game of the year against a team filled with staffers from the Alabama delegation.

Harkin’s Heroes had Senate Softball League Commissioner Sonja Hoover out on the hill of thrills. For the Bangers, their female starter declined to comment. But one of the team’s top lieutenants told Roll Call that she starts for the Bangers regularly. It’s league policy for teams to have three women.

Full story

Short-Handed Team Shows Heart

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

Monday’s night’s House Softball League matchup between the Great Lakers, a team primarily made up of staffers from the Michigan delegation, and the Hired Guns, a team from lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates, almost didn’t happen.

The Great Lakers began the evening short-handed, though reinforcements would come later.

Unfortunately, the bats of the Hired Guns were just too much, topping their counterparts, 18-10.

Heading into the fourth inning, the game was close, with the Hired Guns maintaining a slim one-run lead, 4-3. But in the fourth inning, the bats came alive. Led by their colorful shortstop, Rocky Fox, and his three-run homer, the team scored seven runs and never looked back.

“[This is] definitely not the team we went to the playoffs with,” Great Lakers team captain Mike Klotz said, referring to last year’s run.

Full story

Everyday Softball Gear

While a bat and a glove work great out on the diamond, they aren’t very practical at the office or around the house.

It’s unlikely that players are going to show up to their Capitol Hill office wearing cleats from the game played the night before. The odds are equally slim that someone will attend that all-important business meeting wearing their team shirt, especially if it promotes a certain type of beverage.

Thankfully, the Amateur Softball Association of America, which has connections to the Congressional and Senate softball leagues, features an online store with items that allow softball lovers to take the game with them everywhere they go.

For example, players with a smart phone or iPad can purchase a case that features red stitching against a yellow backdrop, a mirror image of the softballs some teams use during their games. Full story

Rounding the Bases

Here’s a quick recap of what we learned this week out on the diamond and from behind our laptops.

• This time last week the Bada Bings went live on Twitter. After we made note of it, the team openly worried that receiving press on our blog could prove to be the softball equivalent of the Madden curse or Sports Illustrated jinx. The fears proved groundless, as the team romped over  the National Geographic Vampire Bats 20-5. The team ends the week exactly where it started: sitting solo atop the Congressional Softball League standings (6-0).
• It was an open question whether the Colorado Cutthroats would be as bold on Twitter following a loss as they had been after a win. To their credit, they went public after a defeat this week, though they seemed to lay the blame on the air. Or something.
• Despite some on-again, off-again rain, the showers didn’t hit the ground when it counted most: during game time.
• Some teams were fortunate enough to catch the come-back bug (we’re talking to you, Never Say Di), while others couldn’t quite muster the offense to mount a charge (our regrets, 1st F’n Amendments).
• Deep Space Nine may have suffered a shellacking on the field. But at least it did so in style. (Nice shirts!)

Faith Is Common Thread for Softball Team

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

Under the bright May sun, Deep Space 9 got scorched.

The House Softball League game pitted the NASA team against the 24:Sixers, a hard-hitting, fundamentally sound team from Capital City Church. From the outset, the rout was on.

The 24:Sixers scored 11 runs in the first inning and had another monster inning in the third, when they lit up the scoreboard for 13 more. By the time the last out was recorded, they had put up a 35 spot, only surrendering seven runs to their opponents.

Unlike most teams that play in the trio of leagues, the team hailing from Capital City Church are not bound by their professional careers. Rather, it’s their faith and the desire for fellowship that brings them out to the diamond week in and week out. Full story

TNacious Greats Get Their Shot on the Mall

It’s hard to be great when you don’t get to play that often.

The TNacious Greats, a team in the Senate Softball League, has only played one game this season. While we can’t confirm that the lack of available real estate on the National Mall is the cause of this, we reported earlier this season about the possible challenge teams faced finding a diamond as the season progressed.

“So glad we got a field on the Mall tonight! Let’s go Greats,” read the tweet of team member Virginia Houston.

As the humidity in the nation’s capital kicks up, Houston expressed the understandable desire to not have to travel far and wide for seven innings of softball heaven.

“Well, I would say ‘all season,’ but we’ve only played one game so far I just prefer not having to go very far,” she tweeted, when asked how long it had been since the team had played on the Mall.

After tonight, who knows when the team will get to play again. They should make the most of the opportunity by playing, dare we say it, great.