A lipstick-smeared president marked the end of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in the East Room. He paid tribute to the contributions the AAPI community has made to the country, hailed the importance of immigration to America and called for lawmakers to find a way to fix today’s broken system. But before he could get to the tributes or the praise, he had to explain away the red smear on his right collar. After greeting the almost 300 in the audience with “Aloha,” he praised the warmth of their welcome. “A sign of the warmth,” he said, is “the lipstick on my collar.” He blamed the aunt of Jessica Sanchez. Sanchez, of Chula Vista, Calif., was the runner-up in the 11th season of American Idol. Making sure everybody could see the offending mark, the president pivoted, pointed to it and said, “Look at this.” He added, “I do not want to be in trouble with Michelle, so I am calling you out.”
Are you SF Giants fans feeling a touch nostalgic about 2010’s “torture” yet?
That was when the Giants were “all pitch and no hit,” and we wondered how they’d eke out a score on anything but a bases-loaded double-play.
Now the Giants spot teams like the Rockies two-runs early, as the starters try to keep the pitch count to under 70 in the first three innings. Meanwhile, Giants’ batters figure out how to work themselves into a rally frenzy to win it all in the end.
It’s very much like Sea Biscuit, the legendary champion race horse who would spot his challengers 10 lengths or more, only to turn it on late to win by a nose.
So which do you prefer? Slow drip or late rush? To paraphrase the Bard, would torture by any other name smell as sweet?
Depends on how you want the excessive drama in your life.
The two victories over the Rockies this weekend sure fit the come-from-behind nature of the 2013 Giants.
From Giants stats machine: Over half of the Giants’ 27 wins this season have been come-from-behind victories…their 14 such wins are tied for the fourth-most in the bigs…SF also has 10 wins in their last at-bat, tied with the D-backs for the most in the Majors.
As for one-run squeakers? Saturday’s was the 11th this season, tied with the D-backs, Reds and Indians for the most in the Majors.
Saturday also provided this obscure first, according the folks at Elias: The 10th inning victory was the first in 4,408 games in San Francisco in which they won after overcoming a deficit of four or more runs and in extra innings.
Glad that’s settled.
Personally, when it comes to victories, I’ll take mine in nine.
Some fans and the media seem disappointed when the Giants don’t win every game. But the Rockies series offers us some real perspective.
For the players, these kind of games should now be forever installed in their baseball DNA. Never say die? Don’t give up? You know it’s not empty rhetoric after this Rockies series.
And how do Giants’ pitchers survive 65 pitches to get just six outs in two innings? Well, after this weekend, Matt Cain knows how it’s done.
Remember these two weekend games for future reference.
More immediately, they also help flush and forget series like that abominable road trip to Canada and Colorado last week, eh?
DC’s favorite baseball team, the Nationals, lost to the San Francisco Giants in extra innings 4-2 when the Giants scored a run in the ninth to tie, and World Series hero Pablo Sandoval hit a walk-off homer in the 10th.
Back in DC, also in extra innings, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted that immigration reform package out of mark up and on to the Senate floor, 13-5.
Hard to say who won there.
The Gang of Eight’s compromise is still together, and a pathway to citizenship is still in play for 11 million undocumented immigrants.
But Asian Americans failed to get deleted provisions in the current law restored.
And in the biggest blow, same-sex advocates couldn’t even get a vote on an amendment that would allow for bi-national partners to re-unite.
Same-sex marriage is hard enough. Same sex immigration not even in the discussion.
Discrimination continues. That’s why 13-5 isn’t quite the victory it could have been.
After a discouraging 1-5 road trip, the Giants found out how you can have a discouraging 8-0 victory.
“It does rain on your parade when you lose your starting pitcher,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy in the post-game news conference.
Pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, who had struggled in his first 8 games with an 8.06 ERA– the highest among all qualifying pitchers in the Majors—was finally pitching a game like everyone knew he could.
And then, he got unlucky.
Afterwards, he didn’t mince words on how he felt.
Yeah, it stinks.
And now he’s out 4-6 weeks.
With the score 6-0 and the Giants batting in the bottom of the 5th,, Vogelsong looked like he had it all together.
He had what some observers still believe is the “best team in baseball” at his mercy with five innings of shut-out ball. He had made Nats phenom Bryce Harper look foolish with a swinging strike three. Vogelsong even had a bunt RBI to help his own cause in the fourth inning.
Vogey was having himself a game.
And then in the fifth, always the toughest inning for him all year, when he’s allowed 16 of his 44 runs and teams have batted .500 against him, Vogelsong survived a Giants error, and went to bat at the bottom of the inning looking to contribute to yet another Giants rally.
But then he took a swing at a ball that hit his pitching hand.
It was enough to force him out of the game as both a hitter and pitcher.
The diagnosis: a fractured right hand, with two breaks to his pinky and a knuckle, requiring surgery in the morning.
The Giants had jumped on Nat’s spot starter Zach Duke early, tagging the Nats with 2 runs in the second, as Pence and Belt singled and Torres and Crawford drove them in. The Giants added 3 more in the fourth, as Pagan and Scutaro delivered RBI hits. For Scutaro, his two hits helped extend his Major League leading hitting streak to 18 games.
Brandon Belt added a home run to right center in the 5th to make it 6-0. Along with three singles, Belt had a four-hit night for the fourth time of his career.
It was working out to be a good cathartic victory, with lots of Giants contributing. The kind of team victory you need after losing 8 out of the last 13 games.
And then all the good feelings were deflated in the bottom of the fifth.
Of course, it was just a game.
Just prior to the start, an announcement was made about the tragedy in Oklahoma where dozens lost their lives to a monstrous tornado.
A moment of silence added a little perspective to the night.
