Major League Baseball All-Century Team

In 1999, the Major League Baseball All-Century Team was chosen by popular vote of fans. To select the team, a panel of experts first compiled a list of the 100 greatest Major League Baseball players from the past century. Over two million fans then voted on the players using paper and online ballots.^[1]

The top two vote-getters from each position, except outfielders (nine), and the top six pitchers were placed on the team. A select panel then added five legends to create a thirty-man team:^[1]—Warren Spahn (who finished #10 among pitchers), Christy Mathewson (#14 among pitchers), Lefty Grove (#18 among pitchers), Honus Wagner (#4 among shortstops), and Stan Musial (#11 among outfielders).^[1]

The nominees for the All-Century team were presented at the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park. Preceding Game 2 of the 1999 World Series, the members of the All-Century Team were revealed. Every living player named to the team attended.

For the complete list of the 100 players nominated, see The MLB All-Century Team.

Selected players

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

Player	Player's name
Position	Players's position
Votes	Number of votes
*	'Legends' chosen by select panel
**	Player still active in 1999
ö	Player is deceased
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Player	Position	Votes
Ryan, NolanNolan Ryan^†	Pitcher	992,040
Koufax, SandySandy Koufax^†	Pitcher	970,434
Young, CyCy Young^†ö	Pitcher	867,523
Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens**	Pitcher	601,244
Gibson, BobBob Gibson^†	Pitcher	582,031
Johnson, WalterWalter Johnson^†ö	Pitcher	479,279
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn^†ö*	Pitcher	337,215
Mathewson, ChristyChristy Mathewson^†ö*	Pitcher	249,747
Grove, LeftyLefty Grove^†ö*	Pitcher	142,169
Bench, JohnnyJohnny Bench^†	Catcher	1,010,403
Berra, YogiYogi Berra^†ö	Catcher	704,208
Gehrig, LouLou Gehrig^†ö	First baseman	1,207,992
McGwire, MarkMark McGwire**	First baseman	517,181
Robinson, JackieJackie Robinson^†ö	Second baseman	788,116
Hornsby, RogersRogers Hornsby^†ö	Second baseman	630,761
Schmidt, MikeMike Schmidt^†	Third baseman	855,654
Robinson, BrooksBrooks Robinson^†	Third baseman	761,700
Ripken, Jr., CalCal Ripken, Jr.^†**	Shortstop	669,033
Banks, ErnieErnie Banks^†ö	Shortstop	598,168
Wagner, HonusHonus Wagner^†ö*	Shortstop	526,740
Ruth, BabeBabe Ruth^†ö	Outfielder	1,158,044
Aaron, HankHank Aaron^†	Outfielder	1,156,782
Williams, TedTed Williams^†ö	Outfielder	1,125,583
Mays, WillieWillie Mays^†	Outfielder	1,115,896
DiMaggio, JoeJoe DiMaggio^†ö	Outfielder	1,054,423
Mantle, MickeyMickey Mantle^†ö	Outfielder	988,168
Cobb, TyTy Cobb^†ö	Outfielder	777,056
Griffey, Jr., KenKen Griffey, Jr.^†**	Outfielder	645,389
Rose, PetePete Rose	Outfielder	629,742
Musial, StanStan Musial^†ö*	Outfielder	571,279

Pete Rose controversy

There was controversy over the inclusion in the All-Century Team of Pete Rose, who had been banned from baseball for life 10 years earlier. Some questioned Rose's presence on a team officially endorsed by Major League Baseball, but fans at the stadium gave him a standing ovation. During the on-field ceremony, which was emceed by Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, NBC Sports' Jim Gray questioned Rose about his refusal to admit to gambling on baseball.^[2] Gray's interview became controversial, with some arguing that it was good journalism,^[3] while others objected that the occasion was an inappropriate setting for Gray's persistence.^[4] After initially refusing to do so, Gray apologized a few days later.^[5] On January 8, 2004, more than four years later, Rose admitted publicly to betting on baseball games in his autobiography My Prison Without Bars.

See also

• Major League Baseball All-Time Team, a similar team chosen by the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1997
• Latino Legends Team
• DHL Hometown Heroes (2006): the most outstanding player in the history of each MLB franchise, based on on-field performance, leadership quality and character value
• Baseball awards #United States
• List of MLB awards
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

References

1. All-Century Team Information "All Century Team" Check |url= value (help). Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
2. Pete Rose transcript with Jim Gray
3. Top 10 Most Embarrassing TV/Radio Interview Moments
4. Darren Everson (27 October 1999). "Chad Shows No Curtis-y To Gray After Game-winner". New York Daily News.
5. George Solomon; Dave Sheinin (27 October 1999). "Gray's Apology Is Not Enough for Players". Washington Post. p. D1.

External links

• All-Century Team Vote Totals from ESPN.com
• All-Century Team DVD from Amazon.com
• All-Century Team Information from Baseball Almanac