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

I don't know if you've been paying attention, but there are some things going on in this country right now that are far more important than whether or not the Cubs will win the World Series, or whether New York will collapse on itself should the Yankees miss the playoffs.

No, I'm not talking about the new Beverly Hills 90210 - though it's nice to see Lori Loughlin getting work - I'm talking about the upcoming election for President of the United States. Yeah, you've probably noticed in the last few weeks that all your favorite crappy sitcoms and celebrity dancing shows haven't been on in favor of a bunch of people giving speeches in front of sycophants. We call these the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

For the first time in my life, I've paid pretty close attention to both of these conventions this year. You see, even though I've never been shy about my feelings about this country of ours, and those who have been chosen to run it, I've never actually exercised my right to be a factor in the decision.

That's right, at 27 years of age, I have never voted in a single election. Not for President, not for Governor, not even for Student Council President in high school. So when November 4th rolls around in two months, I will be stepping into a voting booth for the first time, and though I'm somewhat excited about it, I still face a pretty tough question.

Just who am I voting for?

It's the question that's been on every sports fan's mind: Quis re-custodiet ipsos custodes?

Okay, it's the question that's been on the mind of every late 1st and early 2nd centuries CE Latin sports fan, and even though it probably had more to do with throwing the discus, we're using it tonight to talk about baseball.

The instant replay initiative memos have been placed onto players' chairs, and that means instant replay is SERIOUS BUSINESS. Will it stop with home run calls? No. Will it stop with close plays in important situations? Of course not. Will it stop when we're TiVo-ing check swings and deeply investigating the use of the pogo stick in Ketchup's nightly victory in the Hot Dog Race? Okay, maybe then it'll stop.

Tonight's Dugout, and tonight's Dugout-within-a-Dugout, are after the jump.

With baseball set to start using instant replay on Thursday, there are a lot of different opinions floating around as to whether or not baseball should be doing this. Some are perfectly fine with the whole thing, thinking that it's about time the game finally adapted to this new-fangled technology, and then there are those who are whole-heartedly against it.

Hell, Sal Fasano actually compared the use of replay to armageddon (Note to Sal: Shaving your mustache? That would be armageddon). On the opposite end of the spectrum from Sal, there's Twins lumberjack Justin Morneau. Justin is happy baseball has finally decided to join the 20th century, though he wishes they weren't just using replay on home run calls.

... the Twins first baseman said Tuesday he wishes MLB would go even further and have instant replay available to decide whether any batted ball is fair or foul.

"I don't know why they didn't go all the way," Morneau said. "That could be just as big.

"Everybody's human, everybody's going to make mistakes. Why not take advantage of all the technology to make sure those [fair or foul] calls are right?"

While I don't want to go out of my way to help a Minnesota Twin feel better, I don't think Justin will have to wait too long to get his wish.

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.

In 2006 Twins first baseman Justin Morneau won the American League MVP award, hitting .321 with 34 homers and 131 runs driven in for the division winning Minnesota Twins. At the time there was plenty of uproar coming from the east coast where a lot of Yankees fans thought that Derek Jeter deserved the award.

Personally, if I'd have had a vote that year (I didn't, though that didn't stop me from calling Bud Selig non-stop to share my opinion) I would have voted for Morneau as well. He's a terrific player, but generally toils in obscurity thanks to the fact he plays for the small market Twins, and I thought he deserved to be noticed. Though Justin would prefer nobody knew who he was.

"I like it here. I like it the way it is," Morneau said. "I like being able to go to the plaza in Kansas City and walk around and nobody knows who I am. On our off day (last week in Kansas City), Joe (Mauer) and I went to see a movie, and we went out for dinner, and nobody saw us.

"[The Yankees] can't do that.

"I like being the underdog, too. Nobody really ever expects us to win. That makes it more gratifying when you do win."

Considering that Justin grew up in Canada, it's really no surprise that he would also enjoy Minnesota. I mean the place is basically Canada anyway, minus the universal health care and Loonies. Of course, I'm pretty sure the $80 million the Twins will be paying Justin over the next six seasons goes a long way towards his enjoyment of the place as well.

I've often felt that Minnesota Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer has been unappreciated. His teammates Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer get all the attention (well, as much attention as the Twins get anyway), while he puts up solid numbers every season and gets no real fanfare. Plus, besides his bat, the guy is pretty good out there in the field and he has a cannon for an arm.

It's got to be pretty frustrating for Cuddyer, but probably not as frustrating as the 2008 campaign has been for him. Injuries have kept him sidelined the majority of the season, and now when he was so close to getting back on the field for Minnesota, he goes and breaks his hand while rehabbing in Rochester.

What happened? Well, I'll let Michael tell you. From Buster Olney's blog:

"I don't know if this season can get any more frustrating on a personal level. The play happened last night while I was rehabbing in Rochester. I was on first base after a walk when Garrett Jones hit a fastball off of Ross Ohlendorf. I jumped, but apparently not high enough and the ball hit the top of my foot, cracking the second metatarsal. I am not sure of a time frame for the injury, but they say typically four weeks or so is pretty normal for something like this. So hopefully I will still be able to get back and give a boost as the beginning to middle of September and pennant race is in full go. The thing that frustrates me the most is that I really pride myself in preparing to play a full season, but no matter what you do you can't prepare for a dislocated finger, torn ligaments and a broken bone! Like I said, though, the goal for me is to get myself ready to help us in some capacity in September."

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.

In the last few weeks, Minnesota Twins general manager Bill Smith has come out and said he wasn't going to look to make any deals before the trade deadline. Then the Twins started talking with the Seattle Mariners about the possibility of trading for Adrian Beltre, but it's been reported that Minnesota balked at the high price tag the Mariners are asking for, and are now backing off.

Before forgetting about Beltre all together, though, Smith may want to have a talk with his manager Ron Gardenhire, because it sounds like Gardy really wouldn't mind seeing Beltre in his lineup.

"All I can control is what I have here in this clubhouse," Gardenhire said. "We're going to play with these guys."

"If they (the Twins' front office) get somebody that can really help us at the end of the game, to set up, to take the place of (injured pitcher Pat) Neshek, that would be really great. Or if they go and find a big right-handed bat to fit in the lineup, that's great. But you'd have to tell me who that is."

Though Gardenhire didn't mention anybody by name, I don't think he'd be against having Beltre playing third for the Twins for the stretch run. The Twins haven't gotten much on offense from the right side of the plate this season, with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau doing the majority of the damage. Delmon Young has come on as of late, hitting .350 with four homers and 24 RBI since June 1st (Delmon didn't have any homers and only 15 RBI before then), but the lineup really has missed Michael Cuddyer's presence.

Cuddyer has missed over 30 games due to injury this season (and when he has played, he's only hit .252/.324/.376 thanks to the injuries), and the team really has no idea when he'll be back as he's scheduled to undergo a CT scan on his right hand today. Beltre could be a perfect fit as he brings gold glove defense, and can provide more power to help out Morneau.

Admit it, you think it's cool that the Home Run Derby's in Yankee Stadium tonight. The thought of Josh Hamilton launching a ball into Monument Park has you just a little more geeked than you want to admit. Truth be told, you like home runs and the Derby has a ton of them. Maybe you're an NL fan that wants to see Evan Longoria and Josh Hamilton in action, or an AL fan that's curious if Dan Uggla can really be that good. And making fun of Chris Berman and Joe Morgan, well, that's just plain fun.

Anyways, come along after the jump where I'll be joined by a number of FanHouse luminaries while we chat live during the Home Run Derby, giving you the hard hitting analysis you want for the most meaningless event this side of the Slam Dunk Contest. I'll be kicking the chat off around 7:30 while the Derby starts at 8.

The Home Run Derby has, in recent years, become a massive parody of itself. What used to be a short, fun diversion the night before the All-Star Game has devolved into a three-hour orgy of excess. There's three rounds now, which ensures that by the end of the night the finalists will be too tired to lift their arms over their heads, let alone hit home runs. There's a million commercial breaks and the thing never seems to end at a reasonable hour.

Still, the Derby is the only baseball on tomorrow night. The only Derby I haven't watched all of in recent memory was the one in Pittsburgh, during which I attempted to sneak a giant banner with an internet-based phrase poking fun at a certain overblown ESPN personality that loves the Derby onto the cameras. My friends and I failed, went to the bar, and yep, watched the Derby. So instead of saying that the Derby is played out and boring, let's embrace the fact that we're going to watch it anyways. A full preview of what I'm expecting from each participant and what you might see during the broadcast is after the jump.