Either this current Cubs team is built of sterner stuff (not sterno stuff–though at times the defense has appeared flammable), or maybe the distractions just haven’t been as bad as we thought. It’s not like their best player has been hit in the head and knocked loopy, had a toenail ripped out of his foot, been caught with a corked bat and started and international incident or anything. They haven’t had a player knocked unconscious on the field. They haven’t used Lenny Harris at third base 15 times or anything. They have? Oh, the humanity!

And yet, as of this writing, the Cubs trail Houston by one game in the National League Central. In fact, the Cubs have only been out of first place a handful of days all season. They held the top spot from April 15 to June 6, and got pretty comfy there. They’d like to go back.

Anyway, you know how this works by now, so let’s break it down.

Sammy Sosa– It always starts with Sammy, and a lot has been made of the Cubs 10-7 record without him. That’s great. It also means nothing. As Sammy is fond of saying, “Cut the bulls@#$, they need me.” He’s right. Remember how the late nineties Bulls teams would rally whenever Dennis did something stupid, or Scottie got caught with a gun in his car, or MJ punched out Steve Kerr in practice? The 2002 Cubs seem to have that ability, too. Sammy got tossed from that game in Tampa Bay when his cork went flying the Cubs took two of three from both the Jellyfish and the Yankees. Sammy played a big role in the Yankees’ series, too. The worst part of his suspension is that he’s just now starting to get comfortable at the plate. Depending on how his appeal goes, he’ll have eight, or five or howevermany games off. That’s bad. The good news is that we’ve been waiting all spring for Sammy to bust out and find that home run swing. It hasn’t happened yet. But it will, and the Cubs have welded themselves to the top of the division, regardless.

Corey Patterson– You just know that some of those saberweenies were watching this weekend’s games and wringing their hands at how Corey Patterson and Alfonso Soriano “do it wrong.” They don’t walk, they don’t take a lot of pitches, but they hit what they swing at and they have the physical tools to change a game. At first, we were prepared to write off Corey’s early season as a nice streak. But it’s June now and the average keeps going up and so does the production. He’s now seized hold of the number three spot in the batting order, and he’s got plans to give it up…in about 2015. He’s the best player on the team right now folks, and it’s a good thing. Who knew?

Moises Alou– His newest ailment is shin splints, and don’t be surprised if Dusty doesn’t use Dave Kelton in left field a time or two this week to give Moises’ shins some DH duty. Say what you want about Moises and his occasional naps in left field, but when Sammy was out, Moises stepped up to the challenge and hit everything in sight. He’s pushing 40, but if you try and sneak a fastball by him he still murders it. The crowd is starting to warm to Moises now, too, you can hear the “Loo!” chant when he comes up, or when he camps under a fly ball. Last year those “loos” started with a b.

Hee Seop Choi– Darren Baker’s favorite player provided the season’s first true goosebump moment, but let’s hope he doesn’t repeat it anytime soon. As he was put on the stretcher on Saturday after his collision with Kerry Wood, the crowd began a very loud “Hee Seop Choi” chant. It would have been just too typically Cub for the best power prospect they’ve developed since…um…Billy Williams?…went down two months into his rookie season. But hankfully, Big Choi’s going to be just fine. He’s in a slump, and big league pitchers seem to be one step ahead of him right now, but if he can keep his on base average around .400 (it’s .389 right now) you’ll know he’s hanging in there. Defensively, the big fella’s a whiz. I’m just glad he’s ours.

Mark Grudzielanek– In spring training it was “in” to criticize Dusty Baker for wanting to go with a “proven veteran” like Gruddy instead of Bobby Hill at second base. Any critics, still? Didn’t think so. Gruddy’s been better than advertised. Offensively, his game plan always seems to be to shorten up, protect the plate and try and take the ball up the middle. If more little guys hit like that, more little guys would be more valuable. Defensively, he’s been tremendous. He’s the toughest second baseman the Cubs have had in decades. He hangs in on the double play until the last second. We got spoiled with Ryne Sandberg, who always turned the DP and managed to not get hit, but the Ryne Sandbergs of the world and few and far between. For now, we’ll take this Mark Grudzielanek fellow.

Alex Gonzalez– This is going to sound harsh, but I think Alex is the biggest waste of talent in baseball. There’s frankly, nothing this guy can’t do. He’s got power, he’s fast, defensively he’s really good and yet he’s going to end his baseball life a perennial .240 hitter with 18 homers and 50 RBI a year. I don’t get it. He just seems content to be average. This troubles me to no end.

Lenny Harris– Most Cubs fans would like to watch Lenny take a long walk off a short pier, but I sympathize with the guy. He’s completely miscast in his role as a platoon third baseman. His value is as a utilty guy/pinch hitter, not the guy who plays third base for you four times a week. It’s almost like Dusty knows Lenny will struggle at third so he plays him there to prove that he needs a “real” third baseman. Once one arrives (one will, right? Please?), Lenny will be valuable again in his intended role. I’m serious about this.

Mark Bellhorn– Dusty seems to have buried Bellhorn on the end of the bench under some blankets and pillows and buckets of sunflower seeds. But it’s not undeserved. He’s hit neither lefties (.175) or righties (.233), and his defense has sucked, too. How a guy could be so productive one year and so lousy the next is a mystery, but it’s happened. Right now, I don’t see a future for him on the Cubs. They’ve already got two utility guys. They don’t need a third.

Ramon Martinez– Thank God for Ramon. He’s not going to set the world on fire with his bat, but he’ll hit .280 with a little power and play the hell out of whatever position you put him at. I can see why Dusty loves the guy. I’ll admit I was dumbfounded on Sunday night when the Anti-Christ singled Martinez out as, “one of my favorite players.” But maybe it’s not so crazy. Honestly, the Cubs could do worse than to put him at third every day and see what happens. Hopefully a trade will happen, is what will happen.

Eric Karros– No matter what else he does in his Cubs career, the three-run happy go jacky he hit off of Juan Acevedo to ruin Roger Clemens’ bid for 300 will always be remembered. For me, I’ll always like Eric Karros now. Just like I have a soft spot in my heart for Brant “Schaumburg Flyers” Brown. For me, the three consecutive Fridays when Brant hit game winning homers to beat the Braves, White Sox and Cardinals will always overshadow one dropped flyball. In 1998 every Friday was “Brant Brown game-winning homer day!” Karros is a cult figure just waiting to happen. The fact that he and Gruddy have already exorcised the ghost of Todd Hundley sure helps, too.

Troy O’Leary– I warned you that he was a rotting corpse, and he’s done little to dispel that. He hasn’t been a total wash out, and he did a decent job filling in for Sammy last time. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have to do it this time.

Tom Goodwin– The worst thing that happened was that game-winning homer he hit in Pittsburgh. No way Dusty will let Jim Hendry send him away now. Sigh.

David Kelton– Speaking of Dusty, he loved Kelton in spring training, and why wouldn’t he? Kelton hits everything in sight. He’s a line drive machine. He made the prudent (though frustrating) decision to give up third base and move back to the outfield. But he’s up now and will get a shot at doing some left field/DH duty this week. If he hits, there’s an outside chance he might stick, but most likely he goes back to Iowa when Choi comes back from the DL.

Damian Miller– It’s easy to yell at the TV and wonder why the Cubs can’t find a catcher who can hit, but if you really watch Damian behind the plate, you’ll understand that it simply does not matter what he hits. He’s worth his weight in gold for what he does with the catcher’s gear on. In what was Jim Hendry’s most crucial off-season move, Miller has given the Cubs the kind of stability behind the plate they needed with this pitching staff. He also gets the very unfun (unfun?) job of hitting eighth in the order. Basically he get crappy stuff to hit (if he gets anything to hit, at all).

Paul Bako– He still can’t hit. At all. Nothing will ever change this.

Kerry Wood– It’s absurd that it took a national TV matchup with Roger Clemens to remind everybody just how good Kerry is, but that was the case on Saturday. As good as Mark Prior is, and he is awfully good, Kerry should never have to take a backseat to anybody. All of the things we love about Kerry were on full display in that game against the Yankees. The unhittable heat, the huge curveball, the stubborn streak…it was all there. However long he’s a Cub, we’ll have to put up with his propensity to cruise along and then completely botch an at bat (four pitch walk to Jungle Juan Rivera is exhibit A), but much more often than not he’s throwing stuff up there that nobody can hit. He’s flat out fun to watch.

Mark Prior– How about the fact that until Jason Giambi did some yard work on Sunday that Prior hadn’t allowed a homer all season? The thing we forget with Prior is that he’s 22 years old. Is there any pitcher in baseball you’d trade him for right now? That’s the kind of question that immediately you think, “Well, yeah, sure…” but then you can’t come up with a name. How cool was it that after the win on Saturday, you could look ahead to Sunday and know that the Cubs were a safe bet to win two of three because Prior was taking the bump? I’m going to emphasize this all summer, because frankly, you can’t hear it enough, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior are easily the best young 1-2 starters in the National League. You just don’t put two guys that good together this early in their careers. To steal a line from our 2001 Cubs Reports, “It’s good to be the Cubs.”

Carlos Zambrano– Speaking of 22 year olds, how about having this guy as your fifth starter? It’s just sick. Has there been a more perfect Wrigley Field pitcher to come along in the last 20 years? High heat and a sinker. Plus, a competitive streak that you have to admire. I can’t get enough Big Z. I just can’t. You don’t often see a guy this young who can look on the verge of going nutty on the mound, but who already knows how to tone it down and make the next pitch. He’s a special talent, folks. Big Z’s going to win 20 games in the big leagues some day. Tell your friends, wake the neighbors, they’ll be pretty impressed when it happens.

Matt Clement– Dusty finally gave in and pushed Clement down the order and got him an extra three days of rest. Clement responded with a nice effort against Tampa Bay. Granted, it was Tampa Bay, but still. His stuff is still there. The riding fastball, the nasty splitter and sinker. He was, for a large chunk of 2002 the best starter on the team. He’ll get that back. But thanks to the filthy talent that surrounds him, he’ll never be the ace again.

Shawn Estes– He’s been inconsistent for ten years, and that’s not going to change now. But when he’s good, he’s still really good. He’s not the guy I want on the mound in a playoff game, but He’s not a bad alternative to have in the middle of your rotation. The Cubs have three quality lefties in the minors, so Estes may turn out to be a one-year guy. We can put up with him for a year, right? Right?

Todd Wellemeyer– His numbers are ridiculous. How about this for your first five major league appearances? Seven innings, 13 strikeouts ZERO walks, two hits, a win and a save? He features a plus fastball and a filthy changeup, and there are pitchers in the minors stacked up like cord wood just like him trying to crack this team. Who knew?

Kyle Farnsworth– There’s no doubt that his role is much different than it was in his “leave the blower wide open” days in 2001 when the seventh inning was his. He’s a middle reliever now and stuck behind El Pulpo, Remlinger and Regular Joe. But The Farns has gone a long way to restore pitching coach Larry Rothschild’s faith in him. A .156 opponent’s batting average will do that for you. What it points out is the ridiculous depth the Cubs have in this bullpen. Couple that with the fact that the starters rarely flame out early and you can see why the Cubs know they can keep themselves in the race just on their arms alone.

Mark Guthrie– Because Mike Remlinger is more of a set-up guy than a lefty specialist, having Guthrie healthy is crucial. He’s back now and hasn’t shown any ill-effects from his sore forearm (acquired either from too much time on the PS2 or on thehun.net). There were four good lefties on the market last winter. Mike Stanton went to the Mets, Chris Hammond went to the Yankees and Guthrie and Remlinger came to the Cubs. The Cubs got the best two.

Mike Remlinger– That change-up he threw with the bases loaded and Jason Giambi up on Saturday was a thing of beauty. If you didn’t know it before, all you had to do was see the reaction of Remlinger to the strikeout to know what a huge moment that was. The game was over. His numbers are actually better against righties than lefties, but the fact is, he gets them both out. He’s a huge part of an incredibly improved bullpen.

El Pulpo– He’s really pitched well this year. Sure he’s a freak, but he’s our freak, so it’s OK. I’m not that wild about the idea of him closing again, but let’s face it, Regular Joe’s been shaky and El Pulpo’s been pretty good. It’s inevitable. Like the tide.

Regular Joe Borowski– Part of me wants him to keep closing because it’s cool that he’s doing it, the other part of me wants him to because he’s been pretty good at it. Sure he gave up runs on both Saturday and Sunday, but the fact is that when given the task of getting three outs before the Yankees could tie the games, he did. Isn’t that the job?

Juan Cruz– It’s doubtful we’ll ever see Juan in a Cubs uniform again. He got sent to Iowa to start games again and remind scouts from other teams that he’s awfully good. I just have a hunch that the next time Juan puts on a big league jersey, it’ll have Marlins on it.

Dusty Baker– Sixty years from now, when you bring up the Clemens-Wood Saturday game and I put down my pudding cup and we talk about the game, I’ll remember this more than anything else. Hee Seop has just been put in the ambulance, and the camera catches Dusty handing the ball to one of the paramedics. The ball that Hee Seop caught and wouldn’t let go of. Dusty didn’t want Hee Seop going to the hospital without that ball. There’s no mystery as to why Dusty Baker is a beloved manager. You don’t fake that stuff. It’s either there or it’s not. Common sense says that the reason the Cubs are better this year is that their pitchers are a year older and wiser, the bullpen had it’s gaping holes filled and Hollywood Hundley has left the building. But I can’t discount the effect Dusty’s had on this team. It’s not tangible, but it’s there. The reason all of the Sosa stuff hasn’t torn the team apart is the guy standing in the corner of the dugout with the wristbands and the toothpick.

Jim Hendry– If you’ve ever met Jim Hendry, the thing that stands out is how much energy he has. He’s just one of those people. He wants to win. He wants his legacy to be that he won a World Series with the Cubs. Just remember that as we sit and wait for Mike Lowell to fall out of the sky. I think it’s going to happen. In fact, if I owned my house, I’d bet it that it will happen. But you’ve got to be patient.

Chip Caray– I feel like I’m a broken record when it comes to ripping on Chip. But I’ve decided it’s not my fault. He sucks. He’s not getting better. In fact, I think he’s getting worse. His phony deejay voice, the fact he starts sentences and has no idea how they’ll end, and his human fire alarm ways just drive me crazy. We’ve got a good team now, it’s time to upgrade the talent in the booth.

Steve Stone– He’s still far better than most of the wonks I hear thanks to my MLB Extra Innings package on the dish. I’d like to listen to what he says when he’s paired with a good announcer though. That hasn’t happened since the pre-stroke days of Harry (1982-1986).

Pat Hughes and Ron Santo– Ron was at his best on Saturday. He, like me, noticed that when the Cubs appealed a Hideki Matsui check swing, that third base ump Laz Diaz missed the pitch. He just didn’t see it. He called it a no-swing and Santo went ballistic. Three innings later he was still seething. I said it before, I’m pleasantly surprised that a good season has brought out the best in Pat and Ron. I also like it when Ron reads faxes that say, “we listen to the game on the radio and watch it with the sound down,” and Ron says “Good, that’s the way it should be.” See, even Ron knows that Chip’s a dope.

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Everybody has realized that the Cubs can’t win the division as they are currently constituted. One of these days the Cardinals will get their pitching half-way straightened out and it’s going to take more than a 6-6 homestand to stay in the race. That said, if the Cubs can fill that gaping hole at third and get Sammy back to his normal self, I honestly think that 1-25 this is the best team in the division. Houston’s handicapped with a dwarf in center field, bad starting pitching and a dope for a manager. The Cardinals pitching isn’t that great, even when it’s healthy. (Besides, I love that Rick Ankiel’s AA ERA went “down” to 9.00 this week).

The division is out there to be had. And with it, the pennant. These are heady days in Chicago, my friends. The cool thing? You might just have to get used to it for a while.