Scalise takes field at D.C. ballgame

WASHINGTON — 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 targeted Republicans during 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, D.C.

“I know how lucky I am to be alive,” Scalise said before the game, which the Democrats won 21-5.

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

Scalise, of Louisiana, 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.

“I earned the starting job back again,” Scalise, in a joking mood, told Fox News on Thursday. “That was great, but it tells you how bad the talent level is that a guy like me who can barely walk out there right now can make it.”