Rep. McGarvey has plenty to celebrate in first Congressional Baseball Game
Morgan McGarvey is relatively new to Congress, but the U.S. representative from Louisville is already sending a message in Washington, D.C. – don't give him anything easy over the plate.
McGarvey, the 43-year-old Democrat elected last November to replace John Yarmuth in the U.S. House of Representatives, had an impressive single in his lone at-bat and scored a run Wednesday night in The Congressional Baseball Game, an annual contest pitting red against blue on the diamond for one night each summer.
Donning a maroon Bellarmine jersey (he earned a law degree from the University of Kentucky, which is outside his congressional district), McGarvey came to the plate to lead off the fifth inning. He took a few pitches from Florida Republican Greg Steube before making contact on a line drive into left field ? a single.
McGarvey earned praise from the broadcast crew: "That’s a solid swing right there from McGarvey," an announcer said, praising his hand-eye coordination. He had plenty to celebrate, cracking a smile and pointing toward the dugout after his hit.
He showed some speed to reach second base on a hit from California's Raul Ruiz before scoring on a double by Pennsylvania's Chris Deluzio.
The bad news? McGarvey's squad was already trailing 11-2 at the time and the Democrats would go on to lose 16-5 to the Republicans; the GOP's third consecutive win.
So if McGarvey doesn't last long in Congress, he might still have a future in the nation's capital – after all, at 26-40 on the year, the lowly Washington Nationals could probably use some of that power and speed in their lineup.
The full 2023 Congressional Baseball Game can be seen on C-SPAN's website. McGarvey's appearance at the plate takes place at about the 1:51 mark.
By: Lucas Aulbach
Source: Courier Journal