What’s all the hoopla about? Several lawmakers are cashing in on the slew of upcoming Wizards basketball games at the Verizon Center.

These lawmakers aren’t the first to get into the spirit of basketball season. Basketball games have been popular fundraising sites in the past.

As those first pitches are thrown in baseball stadiums around the country, some lawmakers are using the events to do a little fundraising, as Politico reports today. We’ve got links to invitations for several of these occasions, including:

• A $1,500-a-head party for Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) at Camden Yards in Maryland tonight, Orioles v. the Yankees.
• On Friday, Rep. David Scott (D-GA) is asking for cash at a shindig at the Braves home opener in Atlanta. One version of the invite has the requested $1,500 directed to his leadership PAC, Brave PAC (is the name a coincidence?); the other has the contributions going to his campaign committee–and also mentions a special appearance by Hank Aaron. Maybe some guests will give to both.
• Some lawmakers, like Rep. William Clay (D-MO), have baseball fundraisers scheduled later in the month. In fact Clay has two: one on April 24, the Cubs v. the Cardinals and the other on April 30, the Cardinals v. the Nationals.
• Then there were those lawmakers who got in some pass-the-hat opportunities at spring training. We The People PAC (Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa.) had a baseball weekend in Clearwater, Florida during which guests could meet the Philadelphia Phillies’ broadcasters and some of the team’s players. Guests were also able to attend a spring training game. And Rep. Mike Arcuri (D-NY), invited guests to a reception back in March featuring former Yankees relief pitcher RIch “Goose” Goosage, recently inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Check out this list of fundraisers listed here at Party Time that show up when you do a search for “baseball” on the “entertainment” field. You’ll see that baseball and congressional fundraising appear to mix quite well.