If you had told me the following three items would be fact as of today at the beginning of the baseball season, I’d have shaken my head despondently:

1.    Cliff Lee spent a portion of the season in the minor leagues and is pitching as a long-man out of the bullpen;

2.    Jeremy Sowers pitched in the AA World Series for the Akron Aeros;

3.    Joe Borowski’s ERA is North of 5.00.

Yet in spite of the apparent struggles of those three pitchers, the Indians sit in first place in the American League Central Division with the crown all but wrapped up (yeah, I know, I’m counting my chickens before they hatched). The “Magic Number” could be single digits if the Indians get off to a good start against Detroit tonight, and would be a mere formality should the Tribe pull off a sweep at home.

(I know, I’m jinxing them, here come a bunch of injuries and a losing streak of biblical proportions. We’re going to get screwed in Seattle making up the “snow” games I thought would cost us the season back in April).

How has this happened? Four main reasons:

First: after coming out of the All-Star Break with all the success of a WWE-produced motion picture, Eric Wedge inserted Asdrubal Cabrera and Franklin Guitierrez as full-time position players in the lineup.  This infusion of young talent removed the permanently slumping Josh Barfield (who will come back and be better next season) and Trot Nixon (who will not) and increased the versatility of the lineup. Cabrera and Guitierrez play solid defense, have decent speed, and have shown surprising power. Wedge has reaped the benefit of choosing talent over experience.

Second, Fausto Carmona emerged out of nowhere to become the team’s second number one starter at the same time C.C. Sabathia embraced the role of team ace. Carmona was about as low as a pitcher could be last season, but took advantage of Lee’s early injuries and Sowers’ early struggles. He has put up quality start after quality start and, as stated here in a prior column, may actually be the American League MVP (OK, at this point, even I have to give it to Alex Rodriguez). As for Sabathia, he has been a workhorse, going the distance often and working into the eighth inning even moreso. Plus, he has consistently acted like a leader in the clubhouse, never complaining that the team’s mid-season slump cost him his 20-win season and possibly the Cy Young Award he deserves.

Third: Victor Martinez. As much as Sabathia has improved as a team leader, it is Martinez, who plays every day, who is the unquestioned leader of the Indians. From his pre-game “high five” ritual (crafted for each individual teammate) to his determination to handle the pitching staff, Martinez has been baseball’s premier catcher this season. He has hit for power and average, driven in runs, and most importantly, improved his laughable defense to the point where I feel I owe him an apology for suggesting he be moved to first base or shipped out of town. Thank G-d Mark Shapiro doesn’t read my column.

Fourth: As much fun as Borowski is at the end of games, the “Dueling Rafaels” (Perez and Betancourt) have been the best set-up men in the game. The fact of the matter is that these two have pitched so well that a lead after the sixth inning means a certain lead going into the ninth. Perez may be herky-jerky with his delivery, but his ERA is below 1.50. Betancourt has been equally effective.

Are the Indians bullet-proof? Absolutely not. Despite playing excellent baseball over the past month or so, the team is still prone to slumps and will have trouble getting out of any playoff series in which either Sabathia or Carmona loses a game. They haven’t won a game against the Yankees all season, and Boston always proves to be a difficult opponent (although I think Dice-K is getting tired and I would never want to count on Tim Wakefield). Anaheim will be a tough out for anybody.

But in a season where the guys the Indians thought would lead them to the promised land have fallen by the wayside, sitting in first place on September 17 is pretty good.

(Someone stop me before Grady Sizemore goes joyriding with Kellen Winslow).

Comments? Adamh164@yahoo.com