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 (MLB) players from the 20th 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 MLB All-Star Game at Fenway Park.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] Gray's interview became controversial, with some arguing that it was good journalism,^[5] while others objected that the occasion was an inappropriate setting for Gray's persistence.^[6] After initially refusing to do so, Gray apologized a few days later.^[7] On January 8, 2004, more than four years later, Rose admitted publicly to betting on baseball games in his 2004 autobiography My Prison Without Bars.

• 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
• Team of the century
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

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