Mark Teixeira looms as Democrats look to snap five-year baseball losing streak to GOP

Republicans and Democrats will face off this week at the annual Congressional Baseball Game, where Democrats are seeking to pull off an upset amid a five-year losing streak to the majority.

Led by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), the GOP team’s manager, the Republicans will feature a largely unchanged roster from last summer’s team and are aiming to continue their dominance over Democrats that stretches to the years before the coronavirus pandemic.

“Baseball is pretty simple whether you’re talking about the major leagues or this,” Williams, the chair of the Congressional Baseball Caucus, told The Hill. “It’s all about throwing strikes. If you throw strikes, you usually win, and we’ve got guys that can do that.”

Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), the Democratic team’s manager, acknowledged her party has its work cut out again in 2026 as it looks to stop a losing skid now in danger of stretching the length of an entire Senate term.

“Yeah, they’re always a little smug, but whatever. It doesn’t faze me,” Sanchez said of her GOP rivals. “We’ve had a thin bullpen. And last year, due to circumstances beyond our control, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was not available and this year he is, which helps with our depth.”

Sanchez said many of the Democrats, eager to notch their first win since 2019, are putting in “extra work” outside of team practices on an individual basis.

“It’s pretty evident in how well they’re doing at the plate that their hitting has improved,” she said of her teammates and colleagues. “One of our issues has been we have leadoff batters that get on and we’ve had a hard time scoring runs. So, we’re hoping it’ll be a real slugfest this year.”

Lawmakers in both parties say the game, to be held again at Nationals Park, has become one of the biggest nights of the year for lawmakers, lobbyists and Capitol Hill aides looking to network, relax outside the halls of the Capitol and score some bragging rights.

“It’s morphed itself into a situation where if you aren’t at the game that night, where the hell are you,” Williams said.

Event organizers expect more than 30,000 people to attend Wednesday night’s game, which has raised nearly $3 million this year for charities like the Boy and Girls Club of Greater Washington and the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.

“The buzz started as soon as last year’s game ended. We have a waiting list of people wanting to get involved and there’s nothing left to sponsor,” said Mark Johnson of the Congressional Sports........

© The Hill