A True Midsummer Classic

That's what last night's (and this morning's) MLB All-Star game was!

It was also a perfect send off for Yankee Stadium.

The Cathedral deserved it! The fans deserved it! The players deserved it! The managers deserved it! But above all, the legends on hand deserved a game like that!

While the living legends watched on, the future legends battled. They battled in an all out turf war for 4 hours and 50 minutes before the American League finally hailed victory in front of a thinning crowd in the bottom of the 15th inning. It was 1:37 AM when Morneau slid across the plate with the winning run everyone was frantic to see.

It could've went to either league as seen by the incredible action on the field. We witnessed the NL strike first, only to see Yankee-foe JD Drew get an unbelievable ovation after his game tying home run. Then, Adrian Gonzalez plated Miguel Tejada to retake the NL lead. But after a Grady Sizemore stolen base and an Evan Longoria ground-rule two bagger, the AL evened it at 3.

And it remained that way until the 15th, tying the 1967 All-Star record of 15 innings as well as shattering the longest ASG in terms of clock. There were countless chances for both sides, but neither could cash in. The marathon had both managers on the brink of pulling their hairs out. Terry Francona resorted to using the "unavailable" Scott Kazmir after depleting his bullpen. An equally nervous Clint Hurdle called on Brandon Webb even though he shouldn't have. But as Justin Morneau came dusting in with the winning run, it was Francona who breathed a gargantuan sigh of relief, yelling "YES! YES! YES!" and bear hugging Jim Leyland on the side.

Then there was poor Dan Uggla, going 0-4 with 3 nasty strikeouts and a double play grounder that helped Marian Rivera escape a heart-pumping jam. Mere minutes after grounding into the twin killing, Uggla committed back to back errors to begin AL half of the 10th. Later, he bobbled another grounder, tapping a not so pretty 3 into his errors column.

And finally, guess who was the MVP?! A man who calls Fenway his home park...JD Drew! That's right, at the final All-Star Game ever at Yankee Stadium, a Boston Red Sox was presented with the MVP. Talk about a classic!

After all Yankee Stadium has seen...July 15th/16th will go down as one of those unforgettable, classic moments at the House that Ruth Built. The home run derby might of made the Bambino proud, but last night, he might of woken up from his grave.

-D