If the congressional gig doesn’t work out, the Washington Nationals may be able to use Rep. Greg Steube.<br /><br />Steube (R-Fla.) briefly took the focus off President Biden during Wednesday night’s Congressional Baseball Game by hitting a rare out-of-the-park home run in the Democrat vs. Republican grudge match.<br /><br />As Biden greeted Steube’s GOP teammates in the home dugout at Nationals Park amid ongoing drama over the fate of two massive spending bills on Capitol Hill, the second-term lawmaker turned on the first pitch of the bottom of the third inning from Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and sent it deep to left field.<br /><br />As the ball hit off a railing in front of the first row of the stands and ricocheted back onto the field, Steube broke into a Kirk Gibson-style slow trot around the bases. He was congratulated by Democratic fielders he encountered before being mobbed by his red-clad teammates as he crossed the plate.<br /><br />Steube is the first lawmaker to clear the fence at Nationals Park since the game was moved there in 2008. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is believed to have been the first lawmaker to hit an out-of-the-park home run in the game, doing so in 1979 at Alexandria, Va. In 1997, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) clanged a home run off the foul pole at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie, Md.<br /><br />In addition to showing his prowess at the plate, Steube was also the GOP’s starting pitcher — taking the mound in a red "Save America" hat signed by former President Donald Trump — and toiled through 5 2/3 innings and 120 pitches before moving to third base.<br /><br />Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) managed to record the final four outs as the GOP held on for a 13-12, seven-inning win, their first since 2016. The last out was recorded by — who else? — Steube, who caught a pop-up off the bat of Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) with the tying run on second to preserve the Republican victory.
