Tonight is the annual Congressional Baseball Game, and the nationally-televised event will feature a new color commentator: Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram.
Airing live on FS1, Pergram will be joined by Washington Capitals broadcaster John Walton, who will supply the play-by-play live from Nationals Park.
Pergram worked as an on-field reporter for Fox during last year’s Congressional Baseball Game and this will be his first time as a color commentator.
Last year, Pergram conducted an in-game interview with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ahead of tonight’s broadcast he spoke with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Those interviews will air during tonight’s broadcast.
Pergram is a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan who said he attended more than 20 Reds games a year during his youth, and he told the Butler County (Ohio) Journal-News that the Congressional Baseball Game featuring Republicans vs. Democrats and is “taken very seriously.”
He also told the Ohio-based newspaper been home plate collisions that rival when Reds icon Pete Rose ran over catcher Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game. When one of the players was injured, the Democrats chanted: “Obama Health Care. Obama Health Care.”
Republicans have won the past two games. In the “modern” era of the game — played since 1962, Republicans have a 36-23 record.
Pergram remarked to the Journal-News that tonight’s game will be interesting considering former President Trump was in a federal courthouse Tuesday in Miami facing 37 criminal charges related to his handling of classified documents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort.
Democrats are saying, “We got him,” and Republicans are “defending him and saying the DOJ is out of control,” Pergram said.
While the game is meant to be fun, things took a turn for the worse in the lead-up to the 2017 contest. A gunman opened fire at a pre-game practice for Republican lawmakers, critically wounding then-House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and injuring others. Pergram went on to lead Fox’s breaking news coverage and followed the story throughout Scalise’s recovery.
Pergram’s preview posted on social media:
1) Special Guide to “Capitol Hill” terms ahead of tonight’s Congressional Baseball Game
A rhubarb with the umpires is a “parliamentary inquiry.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 14, 2023