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.

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: — 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).

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 players, see The MLB All-Century Team.

Selected players

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

Player	Name of the player
Position	Player's primary position
Votes	Number of votes received
*	Denotes player added later by panel
**	Denotes player who was active at the time
†	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†	Pitcher	867,523
Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens**	Pitcher	601,244
Gibson, BobBob Gibson†	Pitcher	582,031
Johnson, WalterWalter Johnson†	Pitcher	479,279
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn†*	Pitcher	337,215
Mathewson, ChristyChristy Mathewson†*	Pitcher	249,747
Grove, LeftyLefty Grove†*	Pitcher	142,169
Bench, JohnnyJohnny Bench†	Catcher	1,010,403
Berra, YogiYogi Berra†	Catcher	704,208
Gehrig, LouLou Gehrig†	First baseman	1,207,992
McGwire, MarkMark McGwire**	First baseman	517,181
Robinson, JackieJackie Robinson†	Second baseman	788,116
Hornsby, RogersRogers Hornsby†	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†	Shortstop	598,168
Wagner, HonusHonus Wagner†*	Shortstop	526,740
Ruth, BabeBabe Ruth†	Outfielder	1,158,044
Aaron, HankHank Aaron†	Outfielder	1,156,782
Williams, TedTed Williams†	Outfielder	1,125,583
Mays, WillieWillie Mays†	Outfielder	1,115,896
DiMaggio, JoeJoe DiMaggio†	Outfielder	1,054,423
Mantle, MickeyMickey Mantle†	Outfielder	988,168
Cobb, TyTy Cobb†	Outfielder	777,056
Griffey, Jr., KenKen Griffey, Jr.**	Outfielder	645,389
Rose, PetePete Rose	Outfielder	629,742
Musial, StanStan Musial†*	Outfielder	571,279

Pete Rose controversy

There was controversy over the inclusion of Pete Rose, who had been banned from baseball for life 10 years earlier, in the All-Century Team. 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. Gray's interview became controversial, with some arguing that it was good journalism, while others objected that the occasion was an inappropriate setting for Gray's persistence. After initially refusing to do so, Gray apologized a few days later. 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's 100 Greatest Players (1998; The Sporting News)
• Baseball awards #United States
• List of MLB awards
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

External links

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