And I'm not just saying that because it would hurt the Twins, and in turn, help my White Sox.

No, Justin Morneau is one of only two players in the Major Leagues this season who have started every game for their team this season (Seattle's Raul Ibanez is the other), and it's starting to take a toll on Justin's legs (no doubt that playing half of his games on the turf in the Metrodome doesn't help either). Still, even though he could definitely use a day off, and his manager Ron Gardenhire wishes he could give him one, Morneau just won't let it happen.

"He wants to play, he wants to be in there, he knows his legs are about done," Gardenhire said. "He's played a lot of baseball."

Yes he has, and even if Justin's legs are tired, you sure couldn't tell by looking at his numbers. While his tired legs have begun to take away some of his power (Justin only has five home runs since August 1st), he's still producing for the Twins. Since the end of July, Justin is hitting .286 and slugging .497 while driving in 38 runs.

What's even more amazing is that his 128 RBI lead the American League, with Josh Hamilton in second with 124, but at the All-Star break Hamilton had 95 RBI compared to Justin's 68. Imagine what he'd be doing on fresh legs right now. Since the Twins can't afford to give Morneau a day off as they chase the White Sox, I would expect Morneau to get a lot more time at DH over the next two weeks.

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Unless you're a Red Sox fan, the best story in baseball this year is the Tampa Bay Rays. By now, everyone likely knows the story but let's recap. In 1998, the Rays came into existence. In every season between 1998 and 2007, they won between 61 and 69 games, except for in 2004. They won 70 that year.

This year, though, is a different story. With last night's win over the Red Sox, they've got 90 wins and a two-game lead in the AL East, a division that seemed to be locked in a deep stranglehold that the Yankees and Red Sox would never let up. The amazing part is that everyone saw this coming in some form. GM Andrew Friedman has rebuilt Chuck LaMar's mistake from the ground up and the Rays are winning because they're good, not because they're lucky.

Baseball is cyclical and every couple of years, a young team bursts on the scene and surprises everyone. Who among baseball's long suffering franchises is next? There are seven franchises that haven't made the playoffs since the turn of the century; the Pirates, Nationals, Royals, Brewers, Blue Jays, Reds, Orioles, and Rangers (sorry Mariners and Giants fans, you've been good this century and that disqualifies you from this exercise), so let's take a look at them and see if we can't figure out who might be in line for the next turnaround.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox don't worry about individual awards. They don't even like to talk about them out of fear that it might distract them from the task at hand, winning a third World Series in five years. That's probably part of the reason why they've been baseball's most successful franchise in the past decade.

If Kevin Youkilis finishes with a bang, they might have to start.

The player once dubbed "a fat third baseman, who couldn't run, throw or field," in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" is having quite the season. He entered play Thursday with 24 home runs, 88 RBI and a .321 batting average. He ranks in the top 10 in those categories as well as on-base percentage, slugging average, OPS, total bases, doubles, triples and walks.

He might not look like an MVP. He certainly doesn't act like one, grinding hard in every at-bat and taking every out personally in a manner ex-Yankee Paul O'Neill would be proud of, but like it or not, he's a serious contender for the award with under six weeks to go in the season.

"It's been fun to watch," says Dustin Pedroia of Youkilis' season. "He's been the biggest part of our offense."

"He's growing into his power," says Jason Varitek. "He's always been a really good hitter."

I was at U.S. Cellular Field last night sitting behind home plate when Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 35th home run of the season into the left field seats. Seeing Carlos go deep this season was nothing new, but there was something different about his blast on Monday night.

It didn't mean anything. The White Sox were already sporting a 12-5 lead on the Mariners, so his solo shot didn't factor into the game's result. Very rarely has that been the case for Quentin this season. Carlos came to the White Sox in an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks, and he came with very little fanfare.

At the time most White Sox fans - including myself - were still a little sore about missing out on Torii Hunter and local legend Aaron Rowand. So when they found out that Kenny Williams' big plan was to bring in some outfielder nobody had ever heard of, and one that was coming off of shoulder surgery to boot, Sox fans weren't pleased.

Well thank God Kenny Williams runs the team, and the fans don't.

The only reason Quentin even made the Sox roster out of spring training was due to a groin injury suffered by Jerry Owens. Owens' injury opened a spot in the outfield, and Carlos was going to keep it warm for a few games until he could come back.

While Josh Hamilton gets most of the publicity when it comes to the Texas Rangers, that doesn't mean he's the only player on the team having an MVP-caliber season. Let's not forget about the team's second baseman, Ian Kinsler, who is currently hitting .319/.375/.517 with 18 homers and 71 RBI.

Unfortunately for the Rangers and Ian, his numbers probably aren't going to change. Kinsler had to leave the Rangers game on Sunday with a sore left groin, but as it turns out, it's probably a sports hernia (as opposed to a business hernia, or the much more devastating agriculture hernia). A sports hernia that's likely to cost Kinsler his season.

Kinsler, an All-Star second baseman and potential Most Valuable Player candidate, did not rule out returning this season but acknowledged he was "mentally" preparing for season-ending surgery.

"There is a lot of stuff I still wanted to accomplish," Kinsler said. "You prepare to play the whole season, and when it's cut short, well, it's not what you expect to have happen at all. I'm having a great season. I wanted to steal the MVP from [Josh] Hamilton. I guess I'll just have to do it again next year."

Well, Ian, if you're going to steal the MVP from Josh, he'll have to steal it from Carlos Quentin first, but that's besides the point. The Rangers have called up Joaquin Arias to take Kinsler's place on the roster, and Kinsler's DL stint marks the 26th time the Rangers have had to use the disabled list this season.

The franchise record is 29, so even though they're 15.5 games behind the Angels, the Rangers still have something left to play for.

It looks like the Rangers offense is going to be missing an important component going forward in 2008 as Ian Kinsler, having an offensive season to be proud of so far this season, might be out for the rest of it with a sports hernia (ouch!)

Kinsler, an All-Star second baseman and potential Most Valuable Player candidate, did not rule out returning this season, but acknowledged he was "mentally" preparing for season-ending surgery.

"There is a lot of stuff I still wanted to accomplish," Kinsler said. "You prepare to play the whole season, and when it's cut short, well, it's not what you expect to have happen at all. I'm having a great season. I wanted to steal the MVP from [Josh] Hamilton. I guess I'll just have to do it again next year."

He could still steal the award from Josh Hamilton, but it will now have to be off of his mantle. As much as he wanted to steal it from him, this will be a huge loss for Josh as it will be to Texas. Outside of the power numbers, Kinsler's numbers this season compare favorably with one Chase Utley. Thanks in large part to Hamilton, Kinsler's scored an incredible 102 runs so far, and was on pace for 200 hits before the injury occurred (he has 165 to Utley's 133). To be at full strength to make a run at the award next season, the prudent thing to do might be to sit him out until then.

The Rangers Josh Hamilton may be getting a little too much respect from opposing managers lately, but it doesn't look like he's giving that same respect back to his fans.

Hamilton was in Boston over the weekend for the Rangers series against the Red Sox when he got word that his wife was going into labor with their child. Obviously Josh left Fenway to head to the airport to get home in time, but there were no flights back to Dallas until the next morning. Hamilton also didn't want to pay the $41,000 he needed for a private plane.

So, understandably, Josh wasn't in the greatest mood when he got back to the team hotel after the game, and he took that frustration out on a couple of fans.

Derek Kilduff told the Track he was one of five people waiting for the visiting ballplayers at the hotel, but when his girlfriend and 12-year-old nephew asked the jock for an autograph, he refused.

The ultimate sign of respect for any hitter is generally thought to be the intentional walk. But what about the bases loaded intentional walk? What about a bases loaded intentional walk when the act brings the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth inning during a pennant race? Actually, that doesn't sound respectful, that sounds kind of stupid. And that's exactly what Joe Maddon did yesterday afternoon when Josh Hamilton came to the plate in the eighth inning yesterday while the Rays held on to a 7-3 lead.

"I didn't want to see Hamilton there,'' Maddon said. "I mean, listen, it's his year, and why not have him hit a grand slam right there and really screw up ours.''

Said Byrd: "It was the right move in the right spot. When the guy's AL manager of the year like he's going to be, things go your way.''

In the end, it worked. Marlon Byrd made an out to end the eighth and the Rays went on to win 7-4 and increase their AL East lead to 4.5 games over the Red Sox. Still, can you imagine the backlash of Byrd hits a grand slam there? I suppose that sort of "if" isn't applicable here since it didn't happen, the Rays are in first place, and Maddon is a virtual lock for AL Manager of the Year.

While the 2008 All Star Game may be a thing of the past, people have still been talking about things they saw at Yankee Stadium those three days, and most of them have to do with Josh Hamilton. While most of the talk is about the 498 home runs (give or take) that Hamilton hit during the Home Run Derby (How dumb did Justin Morneau feel having to accept that trophy?), there's also a lot of talk about Hamilton's relationship with the legendary Willie Mays.

The day after the game there was a lot of talk about the apparent snub of Hamilton by Mays before the game. If you didn't see it, before the player introductions, forty-nine Hall of Famers were announced at their positions. Then, when the players were introduced, they ran out to their spot and shook hands with the legends that stood before them. Just one tiny problem.

When Hamilton ran out to his spot in centerfield, Willie Mays turned away from him and kept on talking to Kosuke Fukudome, who doesn't speak a whole lot of English. This of course started the firestorm that Mays didn't like Hamilton for some reason, but Josh wants us to know that wasn't the case at all.

Hamilton quickly denied any sort of snub, though, and said Mays was simply talking to National League starter Kosuke Fukudome and later greeted Hamilton (visual proof above).

"He leaned over and told me, 'Congratulations,' " said Hamilton, a first-time All-Star. "I told him that I've known who he is for a long time and that I'm a big fan."

Josh then told Willie to let his godson know that he has a ton of unused needles should he need any. Or he just sang along to the Star-Spangled Banner, I don't know, I'm not a lip-reader.

Whatever you think about the incessant discussion about Josh Hamilton's comeback from drug addiction, there's no doubting that it's like something out of a movie. And when you're talking baseball movies about improbable comebacks, it doesn't take Roger Ebert to know that you're talking about "Ed." I kid, I kid, you're talking about "The Natural."

Hamilton turned on the TV the morning after the Home Run Derby and, fittingly, he saw Roy Hobbs was just a few minutes away from hitting his final home run. That's when Hamilton's own movie script intervened.

That was when he heard a knock on his door. It was the person charged with administering his regular drug test. Hamilton, a former drug abuser, provides a urine sample every third day under his agreement with Major League Baseball.

"Man, you've got to hold on," Hamilton told him. "We've got to watch this."

So the tester sat down and the pair finished watching the movie. "Then I did my business," he said.

Couldn't you just see that as the last scene of the movie about Hamilton's life? The two men sitting on the edge of a bed in a hotel room as the music swells, offering one last reminder that Hamilton will never ever truly escape his past just as Hobbs's bleeding stomach does the same on the TV.