Last night’s 15 inning All-Star marathon featured some of the best baseball play we will ever see.

By the 7th, inning major league leading vote getters like Ramirez and Rodriguez were benched and it was left up to the young studs of baseball like Justin Morneau, Russell Martin, Michael Young and the unlikely Nate McLouth to decide the outcome of the game.

We saw a seven inning pitcher’s duel full of heroic defense, timely hitting, aggressive base running, and best of all, hustle!

In the bottom of the 10th, Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook worked out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam by getting two outs at the home plate and a defensive gem from shortstop Miguel Tejada.

In the 11th inning, Michael Young hit what should have been the game winning single up the middle to score Navarro from second base. It was Pittsburgh Pirate center fielder Nate McLouth, who came off the bench in the _ inning, who made the defensive play of the night, becoming the first player to throw out the game winning run at home plate in extra innings (with the help of a great block and tag from catcher Russell Martin.)

In the 12th, the NL loaded the bases with one out and in a combined effort Kansas City’s Joakim Soria and Baltimore’s George Sherrill fanned consecutive batters to wiggle out of the jam.

Look at the box score–it was a game of “most evers”–longest game ever (290 minutes), most runners left on base ever (28), most players in a box score ever (63), most pitchers in an All-Star box score, ever (23).

In the end Scott Kazmir, pitching on 2 days rest, who picked up the win when Michael Young hit a sac fly off the NL’s final pitcher, Philadelphia’s Brad Lidge, to score Morneau on a bang-bang play at the plate.

It makes sense that all this went down in the “House That Ruth Built” with 49 MLB Hall of Famers in attendance. A fitting end to a stadium that has seen 85 years of heroics.