Urban: The hits (to roster) keep coming for Giants

May 31, 2011
URBANARCHIVEGIANTS PAGEGIANTSVIDEOMychael UrbanCSNBayArea.com

If you believe in karma, you might as well believe in there being a Karma Bank of Big-League Ball.And if you believe in such a bank, by now you might believe that the Giants' remarkable run to the 2010 world title left them severely overdrawn. Tuesday's loss merely underscored the notion. RELATED: Giants Insider notes: Ugly eighth leads to loss
Going through an entire 162-game season, plus playoffs, without suffering a significant injury to a major contributor almost never happens, but it happened for the Giants last season despite adding players at an aggressive pace.

Now they're losing players at an equally aggressive pace -- so much so that head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner is getting more TV time on a daily basis than Oprah in her heyday. If the guy has some sort of mileage program with the makers of his shoe of choice, he and 25 of his closest friends will be heading for the Bahamas come October.
Think about the impact players they've lost for significant stretches already, a third into the title defense.The season started with their All-Star closer (Brian Wilson) and one of their biggest playoff heroes (Cody Ross) on the disabled list.Once the season started, they lost one of their top guts-and-grit guys (Andres Torres) for a long stretch; another one of them (Mark DeRosa) went down for what might be the year; a previously indestructible starting pitcher (Barry Zito) suffered a freak foot injury; and the feel-good story of the spring and an early frontrunner for Comeback Player of the Year (Pablo Sandoval) needed surgery.And then, of course, came the crusher. Buster Posey, out until 2012.Heck in the past two days alone, we've seen Aaron Rowand slide into the path of a thrown ball, Torres nearly twist his ankle in the outfield, the new feel-good story (Ryan Vogelsong) take a line drive off his leg, and coveted rookie first baseman take a pitch off his left wrist -- x-rays came back negative and Belt is officially day-to-day.
General manager Brian Sabean tried to get overdraft protection by building a deep and versatile team, but that depth is kiddie-pool shallow at this point, and that renders versatility far less potent.And speaking of Sabean, remember how golden all of his moves ended up last season? This year's big addition so far has been Miguel Tejada.That's a lot of bad juju. In fact, it seems like an awfully stiff penalty for winning a title, if that's what this is.Maybe it's time for an audit of the Karma Bank of Big-League Ball. The Giants might just have some payback coming their way.If not, it's time to start walking some old ladies across the street.