Being thorough has bred success

CLEVELAND - Two questions I'm sure a lot of people in New England are asking today as they contemplate the possibility that tonight's game will be the Red Sox' last of the 2007 baseball season:

1. Who are these guys?

2. Who did you say the manager is?

It's not a lineup designed to dazzle All-Star voters, but it's a lineup geared to make opposing pitchers sweat heavily for the full nine innings. The Cleveland Indians have a lineup with no dead spots.

"In regard to our lineup," explains manager Eric Wedge, the onetime Red Sox catcher, "it's extremely important for us to have a balanced lineup. I've said it before, one through nine, regardless whether it's the first three, the middle three, or the bottom three, we've got a chance to do something. So in regard to each and every inning, we've got people that are capable of getting on base and people who are capable of driving in runs."

The Indians may not have a classic leadoff man or a classic cleanup man (although Victor Martinez, who had 114 RBIs this season, will do until something better comes along), or a classic anything, but who cares? The whole thing works.

Even better, the whole thing is working better now, perhaps, than at any other time in the season. Just check out a few of the postseason on-base percentages, for example.

Jhonny Peralta, .486. Ryan Garko, .444. Grady Sizemore, .439. Martinez, .432. Kenny Lofton, .371. Travis Hafner, .368.

Peralta is the RBI leader with nine. He is followed by three guys with six and four with four. Ten Indians have driven in a postseason run (as opposed to Boston's seven). Ten Indians have had at least one postseason home run (as opposed to Boston's five). Balance, thy name is Cleveland.

There is no Papi, no Manny. It's just a bunch of guys who are nice solid, well-bred baseball players, putting together more consistent quality at-bats than the opponents.

I might also add that they are led by a manager who is 39-going-on-65 when it comes to his approach to leadership. Every once in a while, a player just carries himself in a way that everyone in his organization knows that his eventual destiny is to be a manager.

Eric Wedge is one of those people. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Lou Gorman had drafted him out of Wichita State specifically to be a manager.

The process was accelerated because it was pretty clear to Eric Wedge that he was not going to be playing in All-Star Games.

"It was probably about the mid-'90s when I started thinking about it," he says, "because when you're averaging about a surgery a year, you know you're probably not going to play as long as you want to play. I think [just having the right] personality, and I really enjoyed working with pitching staffs or being, quote-unquote, a 'leader' on the team as a player. I think at that point in time I knew I wanted to transition, when it was all said and done, into coaching or have an opportunity to manage."

Wedge has no wish to be a celebrity manager.

"I mean, as soon as you're done playing, it is not about you anymore," Wedge maintains. "It's point blank. It's not about ownership here. It's not about the front office. It's not about the manager or the coaches. It's all about those players on the field. Everything revolves around them. That's why I say this is their team, and they're the ones doing it and they're the ones who deserve the credit, because it is so hard to play this game."

When is someone going to break the news to Tony La Russa?

As so often happens in baseball, the Indians made one move that tied everything together. The Indians were battling the Tigers and Twins for the Central Division lead when general manager Mark Shapiro, in a July 27 move that proves just how much life can imitate art, traded for Lofton, the unseen star of a clever commercial about his penchant for changing uniforms. Instantly, a lineup that was pretty good became a lineup that was truly menacing.

"It helped lengthen our lineup a little bit," explains Wedge, who generally bats the 40-year-old nomad (11 teams) seventh. "He's a guy that can get it in or get it going for you. He can get on base or he can drive in the big run. He's a big-game player, and he enjoys being up there and making a play when you really need one."

Lofton also brings something Wedge calls "pace" to the ball club.

"He has a real good pace to himself, late in the season and in the playoffs," Wedge explains. "He understands where his heartbeat needs to be in order to be successful."

Pace, huh? Would the skipper care to elaborate?

"When it comes to 'pace,' " Wedge says, "it's just making sure the game doesn't speed up on you. It's such a difficult game to play and be successful at, and, at times, particularly for young players with not a great deal of experience, it can speed up on you a little bit. So if you can keep that heartbeat in check and you can stay calm, cool, and collected when everybody else is maybe not, you're probably going to have a better chance to be successful."

Something is going on with this team, because it is certainly staying cool, calm, and collected when it matters most. In eight games of the 2007 postseason the Indians are batting .383 with 22 RBIs with two outs and runners in scoring position.

That, baseball fans, is a solid lineup at work.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.