An Incredible Journey

WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) made his return to the Congressional Baseball Game after surviving an attack at a Congressional Baseball practice last year. With a will to succeed and months of physical therapy, Whip Scalise reclaimed his position as the starting second basemen and proved his skill, making the first play of the game and recording the first out.

Read on to see how people are responding to his momentous return to the field.

Rep. Scalise Returns to the Field for Congressional Baseball Game a Year After Shooting

It never crossed Steve Scalise’s mind that he wouldn’t someday return to the field to play in the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity.

Never mind a bullet ripped through the Louisiana Republican’s hip last June nearly killing him.

Never mind he had to undergo at least nine surgeries. Or that he had to whiz around the U.S. Capitol on a motorized scooter. Or that he still uses two crutches to get around.

Scalise returned to the field Thursday for the annual game, a friendly bipartisan event that got its start in 1909.

“I wanted to get back there for a lot of reasons,’’ Scalise said from his office just hours before the first pitch. “I love playing. I love the camaraderie. But after the shooting I didn’t want people to think that you could give in to fear. To me, in a lot of ways, it’s like closing another chapter.”

Rep. Steve Scalise hit the field on Thursday night in the Congressional Baseball game — one year after he was shot by a lone gunman during a practice for the annual event.

“I’m back in the game,” the Louisiana representative, who started on second, tweeted of the bipartisan event in which Democrats and Republicans participate in a friendly game of baseball at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Scalise suffered life-threatening injuries in June 2017 when he was shot in the hip at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, damaging his internal organs and causing internal bleeding.

“It was a surreal moment,” the House Majority Whip told Fox News ahead of Thursday’s game. “I just started crawling. And then my arms gave out and couldn’t do anything at that point, so I just started to pray.”

Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise left the Capitol Thursday evening and headed over to second base at Nationals Park to help kick off the 57th Congressional Charity Baseball Game. It’s a big deal for the House majority whip in part because he spent last year’s game in intensive care at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Scalise was one of six people who were wounded on June 14, 2017, when a gunman attacked the suburban Virginia baseball field where his team of GOP players was practicing. Scalise was standing at second base when a bullet struck him in the hip and moved through his body, damaging organs and breaking bones along the way.

One year later, Scalise is back in Congress experiencing one of the most powerful moments in his political career. The traumatic injury and grueling recovery are not yet fully behind him, but his experiences in these past 12 months have left an indelible mark on his outlook and his work in Congress — changes that could help elevate him to one of the most powerful roles in Washington.

It was the first play of the congressional baseball game on Thursday at Nationals Park, and one of their own had been forced out at first. Still, the Democrats were on their feet cheering.

In a moment that simply could not be made up, Representative Raul Ruiz, Democrat of California, sent a grounder to the right side of the infield that was tracked down by none other than Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana.

The significance of the play was not lost on the elated crowd: Exactly one year ago, a gunman had opened fire on the Republican congressional team during its practice in Alexandria, Va., wounding four people, including Mr. Scalise.

Republicans and Democrats came together Thursday night at Nationals Park to play ball and help raise funds for charity. The annual congressional baseball game in Washington kicked off with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise — who was shot during practice last year in Alexandria, Virginia — fielding a ground ball and throwing out the first batter of the game.

Ultimately, the Democrats defeated the Republicans, 21-5.

Moments after the play, teammates and colleagues swarmed the Louisiana congressman. Scalise was escorted earlier in the game to second base by two U.S. Capitol Police officers who were also wounded when responding to the shooting one year ago. The crowd gave Scalise a standing ovation when he left the field after the second batter.

Democrats bested Republicans 21-5 on Thursday night in the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity at Nationals Park in Washington.

But few in attendance, or even on the field, were paying close attention to the scoreboard. The event marked a significant milestone in the recovery from last year’s shooting at a practice for the game that nearly killed one of the most powerful members of Congress.

That member, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, participated in Thursday’s game, starting at second base. Scalise, who will never completely recover from the injuries he sustained that day, still walks with a limp. But his participation provided a cathartic release from a group of lawmakers, still stung by the events of a year ago.

“Steve is a fighter. He is a man of great courage,” said Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tennessee. “I knew Steve would be back, but to see him starting tonight was inspirational.”

One year after he was shot in the hip while practicing for the annual Congressional baseball game, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise once again took to the field on Thursday to participate in this year’s game.

“I’m back in the game,” the Congressman tweeted ahead of the evening event.

Scalise was one of six people hurt in the shooting last June. Four people were shot and Scalise suffered life-threatening injuries. He underwent nine surgeries and extensive physical therapy over the past year.

He played second base on Thursday, the position he was at during last year’s practice when the shooting started.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise reclaimed his starting position at second base Thursday night at the annual Congressional Baseball Game, one year after a gunman fired on a practice and nearly killed him.

Walking with a cane, the third-ranking Republican got a standing ovation as he stepped onto the field for the game between Republicans and Democrats at Nationals Park. The contest, one of Capitol Hill’s few long-standing bipartisan traditions, was expected to raise at least half a million dollars for children’s charities in Washington.

Members of the U.S. Capitol Police security detail who were with Scalise when he was shot tossed out ceremonial pitches Thursday night.

Scalise (La.) shed the cane as Democrats batted first and Republicans took the field. On the first pitch, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) hit the ball to Scalise, who got him out at first. That prompted several lawmakers to rush Scalise and hug him.

One Year After Baseball Shooting, Steve Scalise Retakes Field in Annual Charity Game

They say there’s no crying in baseball.

But that was before a member of Congress — House Majority Whip Steve Scalise — was gravely wounded in a shooting during practice for a charity game, spent a year in painstaking recovery, and returned to the diamond for the annual contest just one year later.

On the game’s first pitch, he fielded a grounder and, from his knees, threw out California Democrat Raul Ruiz. The crowd erupted as lawmakers, even Ruiz, huddled with him in celebration.

And with that, the 2018 Congressional Baseball Game was underway — though the Republican excitement would soon fade as the Democrats continued their winning streak with a blowout 21-5 victory.

Republicans and Democrats put aside the sectarian hostilities that have increasingly defined this town and came together on the baseball diamond Thursday, a year after bullets from a would-be mass assassin shook Congress to its core.

Democrats prevailed 21-5 in the 57th Congressional Baseball Game for Charity at Nationals Park. But the night belonged to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and all who hailed his return after he was shot during a team practice last spring in suburban Virginia.

The Louisiana Republican suffered life threatening injuries and has endured lengthy hospitalizations, multiple surgeries and painful rehabilitation. Months removed from struggling to walk, Scalise was honored before the game and started at second base for Republicans, fielding a ground ball and completing the put-out to first on the game’s first play.

“It’s been a long road to this day,” Scalise wrote on Twitter earlier in a day filled with media interviews, accolades and a Capitol Hill blood drive to commemorate the donations he received a year ago.

One year ago yesterday, a gunman opened fire on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia. He had scouted the area for a month, and found congressional Republicans were practicing there for the annual congressional baseball game. He double-checked with two members of Congress about the party affiliation of the men on the field before firing off some 70 rounds. He hit two staffers, two Capitol Hill police officers, and Majority Whip Steve Scalise before being taken down by Capitol Hill Police.

Members credit the police, there as part of Scalise’s leadership security detail, with saving all of their lives. Scalise and others wounded were tended by Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a doctor and combat vet with experience in Iraq. His quick action is also credited with keeping the injured alive.

But the road back wasn’t easy for those who fell at the hands of 66-year-old James Hodgkinson. Scalise was in the hospital for months, sometimes threatened by infection as much as his original injury, and had to relearn to walk. Here are some moments from his triumphant return to make you smile.

‘I’ve still got it’: Rep. Steve Scalise gets back in the game by fielding a grounder on the first pitch for the first out of the Congressional fixture on the one-year anniversary of his near-fatal shooting

On the anniversary of Rep. Steve Scalise being seriously wounded in his Republican team baseball practice in Virginia, Scalise made the first out of the 2018 Congressional Baseball Game.

Scalise, who underwent multiple surgeries and needed to walk with crutches for months after the shooting, started for the GOP team at second base at the National’s Park in Washington.

The not-yet-fully recovered Republican fielded the grounder on the first pitch of the game, tossing out Rep. Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat, at first plate.

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