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Unity At The Ballpark: Lawmakers Come Together After Shooting

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks. I don't care if I never get back.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The Democrats beat the Republicans 11-2 in last night's Congressional Baseball Game. It was one day after a gunman shot Republican Congressman Steve Scalise and three others at a practice for the game. Nearly 25,000 people turned out last night at Nationals Park. Here are some of their voices.

BROCK WILLIAMSON: My name's Brock Williamson (ph) and this is Holly Mason (ph). And we're from - actually from Omaha, Neb. But we've been in D.C. for two years.

HOLLY MASON: We love baseball, and I used to work on the Hill. And seeing the Dems and the Republicans play together is fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Special Agent David Bailey.

(APPLAUSE)

REMSO MARTINEZ: One madman with a gun is not going to stop Americans from enjoying baseball, especially when it comes to something like this. This is one of the times during the year where people can just crack open a cold beer, meet with their rivals across the aisle and just have a good time. I'm Remso Martinez (ph) from Fairfax, Va.

JACOB PAGE: I'm Jacob Page (ph) from Liberty University.

DENZEL JONES: Denzel Jones (ph). I'm just from Arlington, Va. I think this is the most bipartisanship you're probably going to see here at the baseball game. But it's not going to last. You know, it's turned into more of a shouting match, which is a shame. Instead of, you know, really debating people on ideas and policies, you know, we're more focused on who can get the, you know, biggest zinger in there that gets media attention. You know, ideally it would be great to, you know, come together and be able to talk openly, but, you know, I doubt that that's going to actually happen.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: And now for the Democrats.

(CHEERING, BOOING)

DENISE DEGODA: So I'm Denise Degoda (ph). I am from Congressman Jared Huffman's office. And he's playing tonight. So yeah, I came to support him.

LINDSAY GRACE: And I'm Lindsay Grace, professor at American University. I love the idea that it'd actually be a little more cooperative instead of competitive. So it'd be wonderful if they were actually on the same team and working toward some other common goal.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Now batting for the Democrats, representing New York, Hakeem Jeffries.

JONATHAN WILCOX: My name is Jonathan Wilcox (ph).

TERRY WILCOX: Terry Wilcox (ph).

J. WILCOX: And this is Jackson and James.

T. WILCOX: This is their first baseball game.

J. WILCOX: They're almost 4. And the spirit has been really terrific. And I think that as partisan as things are, you know, there's really something special in the air. When something like this happens, everybody just goes a little quiet and a little contemplative.

T. WILCOX: Like, you can all sort of look around for at least a little while, and you can connect with somebody no matter whether you agree with them politically or whatever. Just for a minute, it's nice to kind of have that serenity.

J. WILCOX: And so for one night at least, it's a united city.

CORNISH: NPR producer Sam Gringlas brought us those voices from yesterday's Congressional Baseball Game. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.