Back to the future
The long-range fortunes of a Major League franchise often hinge on the quality of its Minor League organization. In addition to providing replacements for departing players, a pool of young, relatively inexpensive talent is a hedge against skyrocketing Major League salaries. The combined record of a big league club's affiliates indicates the talent pool from which it will draw in the future. This season, the New York Yankees led all Minor League organizations with a .580 winning percentage and, except for one Dominican League affiliate, each of their teams posted a winning record. The New York Mets' farm system ranked last with just three winning Minor League clubs. Below are the 2007 organizational records for each Major League franchise, including all Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, Rookie League, Dominican and Venezuelan League affiliates:

American League
Teams, Affiliates, Record, Win Pct.
Yankees, 8, 484-351, .580
Twins, 7, 421-339, .565
Tigers, 8, 454-380, .544
Angels, 7, 405-359, .530
Indians, 7, 398-364, .522
Devil Rays, 7, 393-377, .510
Red Sox, 7, 387-378, .506
Blue Jays, 8, 424-418, .504
Royals, 8, 416-411, .503
Rangers, 7, 373-387, .491
Orioles, 8, 397-430, .480
Athletics, 7, 390-427, .477
Mariners, 8, 388-440, .469
White Sox, 8, 382-459, .454

National League
Teams, Affiliates, Record, Win Pct.
Giants, 7, 441-326, .575
Brewers, 6, 387-298, .565
Pirates, 8, 431-396, .521
Dodgers, 8, 393-366, .518
Reds, 7, 391-373, .512
Phillies, 8, 420-404, .510
Cubs, 7, 385-376, .506
Rockies, 7, 390-391, .499
Braves, 7, 371-384, .491
Diamondbacks, 7, 381-400, .488
Cardinals, 9, 414-475, .466
Nationals, 8, 378-437, .464
Astros, 8, 387-454, .460
Marlins, 7, 348-411, .458
Padres, 7, 340-417, .449
Mets, 9, 393-497, .442

Loss leaders
The Arizona Diamondbacks could become only the sixth team in Major League history to win a pennant or a division title, but score fewer runs than they allow to opponents. Through Wednesday, the D-backs had given up 666 runs while scoring 642, a deficit of 23, but still led the NL West by 3 1/2 games. The 1994 Texas Rangers posted the largest run deficit for a title-winner, giving up 84 more tallies than they scored. The other teams that won a title despite a deficit in scoring were the 1984 Kansas City Royals (-13), 1987 Minnesota Twins (-20), 1997 San Francisco Giants (-9) and the 2005 San Diego Padres (-42).

Choose your poison
Major League Baseball has instituted a new playoff rule that could affect how relief pitchers are managed in the postseason. For the first time, the AL team with the best regular-season record can choose whether to play its best-of-five Division Series in seven days or eight days. The seven-day series features two sets of back-to-back games with off-days between Games 2 and 3 and Games 4 and 5. In the eight-day format, only Games 3 and 4 are played on consecutive days. However, the team with the best record has just one hour after divisional matchups are finalized to make its decision. The Players Association agreed to the rule change and MLB plans to extend it to the NL next year.

Winning ways
Pedro Martinez had reason to celebrate when he registered his 300th decision in the Majors on Sept. 9. His win against the Houston Astros gave him the lead in winning percentage among big league pitchers with at least 300 decisions at .693. The Mets starter has spent most of this season on the disabled list recovering from right shoulder surgery, pitching his first game of 2007 on Sept. 3. His winning percentage tops Whitey Ford's mark of .690. Martinez has gone 208-92, while the "Chairman of the Board" had a career record of 235-106. However, if Martinez falters in his last few starts this season, he could fall behind Ford. The 10 big league pitchers with the best winning percentages after a minimum of 300 decisions are:

Pitcher, Seasons, Record, Winning Pct.
Pedro Martinez, 1992-present, 208-92, .6933
Whitey Ford, 1950-1967, 236-106, .6901
Bob Caruthers, 1884-1892, 218-99, .6877
Lefty Grove, 1925-1941, 300-141, .6803
Christy Mathewson, 1900-1916, 373-188, .6649
Roger Clemens, 1984-present, 354-184, .6580
Randy Johnson, 1988-present, 284-150, .6544
John Clarkson, 1882-1894, 328-178, .6482
Mordecai Brown, 1903-1916, 239-130, .6477
Grover Alexander, 1911-1930, 373-208, .6420

Philadelphia story
Jimmy Rollins has been mentioned as a possible MVP candidate in the National League. The Philadelphia Phillies shortstop is leading the league in runs, triples and multi-hit games and is second in total bases. He also has the second-best fielding percentage in the NL at shortstop. Rollins needs just three triples to join Curtis Granderson, Willie Mays and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte as the only Major Leaguers to have at least 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season. Detroit Tigers center fielder Granderson joined the 20-20-20-20 club earlier this year. Only two NL shortstops have earned MVP honors: Maury Wills was the first when he edged out Mays for the honor in 1962 and Barry Larkin was the second in 1995.

Hits with benefits
A few big leaguers really make their hits count and Ramon Martinez may end the season among an elite group that produced more RBIs than hits in a season (minimum 20 hits and 30 RBIs). The Los Angeles Dodgers infielder has recorded 27 RBIs with just 24 safeties and would be the seventh batter since 1876 to accomplish this feat. Mark McGwire did it four times in his career. Rick Ankiel of the Cardinals also has a chance to join the club. Through Wednesday, Ankiel had 31 hits and 29 RBIs. Below are the nine seasons in which a Major Leaguer posted more RBIs than hits with a minimum of 20 knocks and 30 ribbies:

Player, Year, Team, Hits, RBIs
Mark McGwire, 1999, Cardinals, 145, 147
Mark McGwire, 1995, A's, 87, 90
Paul Sorrento, 1995, Indians, 76, 79
Mark McGwire, 2000, Cardinals, 72, 73
Mark McGwire, 2001, Cardinals, 56, 64
Eddie Robinson, 1955, Yankees, 36, 42
Harry Truby, 1896, Cubs, 28, 31
Bobby Hofman, 1954, Giants, 28, 30
Frank Fernandez, 1968, Yankees, 23, 30

Hopping mad
A video clip depicting a rather mysterious Korean baseball fight has been popular viewing recently on Internet sites like YouTube and Digg. The clip, narrated in Korean, shows a batter charging the mound after being hit in the arm by a pitch. But, before he can tackle the pitcher, the batter stops short and starts hopping around and holding one leg. The pitcher also starts hopping around, which precipitates a bench-clearing binge of mass hopping. It turns out, the hopping altercation was staged as a parody of baseball brawls and was part of a celebrity baseball game in Korea.

Roll of the dice
Seven turned out to be an unlucky number for the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 4. Their game at Comerica Park began at 7:07 p.m. ET, with a game-time temperature of 77 degrees and the first batter up for the visiting Chicago White Sox was No. 7, Jerry Owens. But, as John Lowe noted in his blog for the Detroit Free Press, the outcome of the contest was not a fortunate one for the Tigers: They lost to the White Sox and dropped seven games behind the Indians in the AL Central.

Witness to history
A sourdough grilled-cheese sandwich, supposedly struck by Barry Bonds' record-setting 756th home run, is being auctioned off on eBay. A picture of the sandwich shows the imprint of a baseball and, by Thursday morning, the item had attracted a bid of $30. The successful bidder will also have to pay shipping costs of $7.56 in order to possess the cheesy treat.

Around the Horn
Tom Glavine, on Sept. 8, became the 250th Mets starter to pitch five or more innings in a game before giving up a hit -- no Mets pitcher has thrown a no-hitter in the club's 46-year history. ... Prince Fielder is on the verge of becoming, with his father Cecil, the only father-son duo in the Majors to each hit 40 homers in a season without stealing a base -- a 40-0 season has occurred 38 times in the bigs. ... The A's have participated in both the shortest and longest nine-inning games so far this season. On April 25, they sped through nine against the Mariners in 1:47, but on Sept. 9, they endured a 4:08 marathon against the Rangers. ... Pitcher Ross Detwiler became the first player chosen in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft to make an appearance in the bigs. The Nationals' first-round Draft pick made his debut on Sept. 7 against the Braves. ... The Phillies became the first NL team since the 1995 Reds to turn two triple plays in a season when they made their second triple killing of 2007 on Wednesday against the Rockies. It was the 672nd triple play in the Majors since 1876 and the fourth this year. ... If Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies wins the NL Rookie of the Year Award, he would join Hanley Ramirez (2006) and Rafael Furcal (2000) as the only NL shortstops to earn that honor -- 12 AL shortstops have won their league's ROY. ... Unless they meet in the playoffs, the Angels will not face the Indians at Jacobs Field this season. The Tribe hosted the Halos at Miller Park in Milwaukee in April due to severe weather in Cleveland. ... If Mike Lowell, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz all remain in the top 10 in AL batting, it would mark the first time since 1969 (Reggie Smith, Rico Petrocelli and Mike Andrews) that the Red Sox had three players in the top 10 in the same season.

Should the Mets win the NL East, it will be the first time in franchise history that they've finished first in consecutive seasons. ... The Devil Rays were the first team knocked out of contention for any sort of playoff berth this season. They were eliminated from the division race on Sept. 2 and from the Wild Card on Sept. 8. ... On Monday, Pirates left fielder Nate McLouth hit the 1,000th homer at PNC Park. ... The Rockies became the first big league team to use 10 pitchers in a nine-inning game and win when manager Clint Hurdle used a starter and nine relievers to preserve a 10-4 victory on Sept. 7. ... The Cubs are 58-33 when their starter goes at least six innings, but 16-38 when he doesn't. ... Todd Helton broke a tie with Tris Speaker on Sunday and became the first Major Leaguer to post 10 consecutive seasons of 35 or more doubles. ... Dioner Navarro's second-half batting average has improved 131 points over his first-half mark, the largest such jump this season. The Devil Rays catcher batted .177 before the All-Star break, and through Wednesday, had batted .308 since. ... The Angels have posted four consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. ... The Braves may not have a 30-homer man for the first time since 1997. Through Wednesday, Chipper Jones had 25 taters and Andruw Jones had 24. ... Tom Gorzelanny is the first Pirates lefty since Denny Neagle in 1996 to win 14 games. ... Through Wednesday, half of the Orioles' eight sellouts this season had come when the Red Sox were in town. ... Marlins shortstop Ramirez joined Bobby Bonds (1969-70) and Craig Biggio (1997-98) as the only big leaguers to produce at least 360 hits, 40 homers and 90 steals over a two-year span.

Through Wednesday, Magglio Ordonez needed two more RBIs to reach 134, which would be the most by a Tigers player since Rocky Colavito had 140 in 1961. ... Rob Johnson is the first native of Montana to play for the Mariners. The Mariners have yet to field a player from the states of Alaska, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Rhode Island. ... Alex Gordon set the Royals' rookie record for doubles in a season when he collected his 34th two-bagger of 2007 on Wednesday, eclipsing the record of 33 set by Kevin Seitzer in 1987 and equaled by Mark Quinn in 2000. ... The White Sox have had 10 games delayed by rain this season. ... Biggio passed George Brett and moved into fifth place on the all-time doubles list when he stroked his 666th two-base hit on Tuesday. ... Devil Rays slugger Carlos Pena has hit 13 of his 39 homers in his last 24 games. ... Interim Pirates GM Brian Graham is so new to the job that he needed instruction on how to fill out and send the Commissioner's Office the necessary paperwork to activate Ryan Doumit from the disabled list on Sept. 8.