Seattle hasn't been this excited over a local performance unless it involved a Microsoft 3-for-1 stock split.

The Mariners lead the league in attendance, averaging nearly 40,000 fans per game. Last week's annual Buhner Buzz Cut promotion brought a record 6,246 participants and had fans lining up at six in the morning to get their heads shaved in exchange for a free ticket (the total included more than 100 women who underwent the Sinead O'Connor treatment). And we won't even get into the whole Ichiro-mania.

	Aaron Sele is 8-0 and the Mariners are 12-0 when he starts.

Heck, the city is so crazy about the baseball team that there hasn't been a riot in months.

"The city is just goofy right now," second baseman Bret Boone said. "We're like Michael Jordan walking down the street. People coming up to you and saying, 'Oh, man, you guys are playing great.' And the look in their eyes. I've played in Cincinnati and Atlanta and this is a pretty special situation."

Who expected this? The Mariners traded one of the greatest players in history last year then lost their best player over the winter in the most publicized free agency filing in recent memory.

And yet, here they are, riding a 13-game winning streak, 16½ games ahead of their nearest competitor and owners of a 45-12 record so golden that it is matched only by the starts of the 1912 Giants and the 1939 Yankees. Seattle's lead is so big that the AL West race is virtually over before we've even been plagued by Adam Sandler's annual summer release.

"I have to steal a line from Mark Guthrie," Mariners starter Paul Abbott said. "He asked me, 'What, are you guys the University of Texas? You have a college record.' "

How good is Seattle's record? At last glance the Mariners had more wins (45) than Alex Rodriguez's Rangers (20) and Ken Griffey Jr.'s Reds (22) combined (42).

"If I were Pat Gillick," Rodriguez said, "I would trade Edgar Martinez, Freddy Garcia and Ichiro and maybe next year they'll go undefeated."

Like Kenny G's popularity, the Mariners defy explanation. They have a high school basketball referee in the bullpen (Jeff Nelson), a .235 hitter at third base (David Bell) and a .168 hitter in left field (Al Martin). Their two most productive hitters (Ichiro and Boone) weigh less combined than Rich Garces. The soul of the team (Jay Buhner) has yet to step into the batter's box.

And yet they have the league's second-best pitching, the league's highest-scoring offense and the game's best bullpen.

Not even the Mariners can fully explain it. Ask about their record and they shake their heads like bobblehead dolls, saying they don't want to tempt fate by overanalyzing things. And then they go out and win again.

The team is touted as a blue-collar club, a lunch-bucket brigade. Which is a bit like Bill Gates claiming he's middle class. The Mariners have a payroll of nearly $76 million while the team has one of baseball's most lucrative local TV deals and one of the game's top three in gross revenue. They are the Yankees of the Northwest, except their owner isn't an obnoxious blowhard.

In truth, the Mariners are not a scrappy group of underdogs, just a roster filled with very good players who, with the exception of Ichiro, usually go unrecognized outside of Seattle.

Few fans count Aaron Sele among the league's top starters, yet he is 8-0 with a 2.87 ERA. He has 12-decision winning streak and has more victories since the start of the 1998 season than every pitcher except Pedro Martinez. While all the attention goes to Manny Ramirez, Boone is very quietly leading the league in RBI with a staggering 64. Mark McLemore has played five positions, is hitting .314 and is 18-for-18 in stolen bases (17-for-17 in May alone). Batters are hitting .095 against Nelson. And no hitter has been as consistently and quietly productive as Edgar.

The Mariners play solid defense. They don't make mistakes. They are patient hitters who work the count and wear down pitchers. They are hitting .300 with runners in scoring position. Put it all together and no wonder they have outscored opponents 349-237 -- including 57-17 in the eighth inning when their deep bullpen and timely hitting puts most games away.

The irony is that for years, the Mariners were a team with a few superstars and a mediocre supporting cast that rarely went very far. With those superstars gone, they are better than before because they are a well-rounded team, not a star vehicle. They've shown that in today's economy, it's better to invest in the entire team than in one or two superstars.

Is any other team paying attention?

Box score line of the week
The Mets, the team where Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden got their starts, have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter. Until last week when Steve Trachsel pitched a seven-inning no-hitter. Unfortunately, he did it for Triple-A Norfolk, where he was optioned last month to work on his mechanics. His line:

7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Trachsel, by the way, is earning $3 million to pitch in the minors. Nice work if you can get it.

Lies, damn lies and statistics
The last time Minnesota and Cleveland played a meaningful series before this week? You may have to go all the way back to 1965, Nolan Ryan's rookie season, when the Twins won the American League and Cleveland was in first place until July 4 and finished 87-75. ... Boston catcher Jason Varitek caught all 18 innings in Tuesday night's 4-3 Boston marathon. But he's used to that sort of thing. He caught Boston's entire 19-inning game with Seattle last summer. ... On the opposite end of the spectrum, Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia earned the victory last week even though he pitched just four innings. Under baseball's rules, because the rain-shortened game lasted only five innings, Sabathia needed only four innings to qualify for the victory. ... Milwaukee's Richie Sexson struck out five times last Tuesday. ... The Twins might have gone for the less expensive player with the first pick of this week's draft, but he comes from good stock. Catcher Joe Mauer of St. Paul is from the same area that produced Dave Winfield, Jack Morris and Paul Molitor, the same high school as Molitor and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, and like Weinke, has a football scholarship to Florida State. ... If Felipe Alou doesn't take another managerial job, he'll have managed 1,408 games without ever once managing in the postseason (thanks in large part to the 1994 strike).

From left field
The Mariners entered this week with a 16-game lead, the largest lead in baseball history this early in the season. With that kind of a start, they have a chance to win their division by the largest margin in history. The 10 largest margins:

Year/team	Margin	The skinny
1995 Cleveland	30	Lost World Series to Atlanta
1902 Pirates	27.5	No World Series held
1998 Yankees	22	Swept World Series over Padres
1986 Mets	21.5	Won World Series in 7 over Boston
1906 Cubs	20	Lost World Series in 6 to White Sox
1975 Reds	20	Won World Series in 7 over Boston
1983 White Sox	20	Lost ALCS to Baltimore
1936 Yankees	19.5	Won World Series in 6 over Giants
1927 Yankees	19	Swept World Series over Pirates
1969 Orioles	19	Lost World Series in 5 to Mets

Win Blake Stein's money
This week's category is: And The Amazing Thing Is, He Never Managed The Cubs.

Q: Who managed the most games without ever reaching the World Series?

Power rankings

1. Mariners Seattle already set for October: Mayor just cancelled World Series celebration at Space Needle.

2. Mel Brooks Last feat: 12 Tony's for "The Producers." Next: Campfire scene in "Blazing Saddles" musical.

3. Barry Bonds Snubbed last time, but making compelling early case for the All-21st Century team.

4. Cubs Surprising first-place season packs the bleachers and shortens lines at unemployment office.

5. Diamondbacks New complaint: Ben Davis never rewinds his video tapes before he returns them to Blockbuster.

6. Atlanta Recent win streak unfortunately means that like, "Just Shoot Me," they may be renewed in October.

7. Milwaukee Bucks New conspiracy: NBA discarded 19,000 All-Star ballots in Palm Beach County.

8. Reds Cincy controversy: GM Jim Bowden claims David Wells misdiagnosed Griffey's torn hamstring.

9. Devil Rays Baseball's worst team since Tatum O'Neal was on the mound.

10. David Manning How did people realize Sony's film critic was fictional? He liked "Crocodile Dundee III."

A. Gene Mauch, 3,938 games and 25 years..

Voice of summer
"Did I just do that?"

-- Adam Eaton on his initial thought when he stabbed himself while cutting open a DVD package.

Jim Caple is a Senior Writer for ESPN.com.