All Century Team by Mastercard : A Legendary List on Baseball Almanac

All Century Team

In 1999, a panel of experts assembled by Major League Baseball and sponsored by Mastercard, selected the one-hundred greatest players. More than two million baseball fans worldwide then voted to determine the top players by position from this elite group. A Blue Ribbon panel then added five legends to create a thirty-man team.

"You're not aware until after your career who came before and who came after you. I don't know if there ever was a group as good as that group from the sixties and seventies. I don't know if that will ever happen again." - Johnny Bench

All Century Team Official Starting Line-Up (1999)
Position	Name	Final Rank
Pitchers	Nolan Ryan	1.
	Sandy Koufax	2.
	Cy Young	3.
	Roger Clemens	4.
	Bob Gibson	5.
	Walter Johnson	6.
	Warren Spahn	10.
	Christy Mathewson	14.
	Lefty Grove	18.
Catchers	Johnny Bench	1.
Catchers	Yogi Berra	2.
First Basemen	Lou Gehrig	1.
First Basemen	Mark McGwire	2.
Second Basemen	Jackie Robinson	1.
Second Basemen	Rogers Hornsby	2.
Third Basemen	Mike Schmidt	1.
Third Basemen	Brooks Robinson	2.
Shortstops	Cal Ripken, Jr.	1.
	Ernie Banks	2.
	Honus Wagner	4.
Outfielders	Babe Ruth	1.
	Hank Aaron	2.
	Ted Williams	3.
	Willie Mays	4.
	Joe DiMaggio	5.
	Mickey Mantle	6.
	Ty Cobb	7.
	Ken Griffey, Jr.	8.
	Pete Rose	9.
	Stan Musial	11.
All Century Team Official Starting Line-Up

Rank

Pitchers

Fan Ballots

Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.

992,040
970,434
867,523
601,244
582,031
479,279
431,751
405,365
399,657
337,215
330,219
253,120
252,115
249,747
158,266
151,255
143,710
142,169
130,389
122,366
106,416
54,618
31,342
23,366
13,195
12,687

All-Century Starter

Special Panel Selection

Rank

Catchers

Fan Ballots

Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Josh Gibson

1,010,403
704,208
322,384
247,909
233,288
75,344
74,295
24,196

All-Century Starter

Negro League All-Star

Rank

First Basemen

Fan Ballots

Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Buck Leonard

1,207,992
517,181
351,488
185,622
161,564
114,317
106,717
28,378
20,091
12,976

All-Century Starter

Negro League All-Star

Rank

Second Basemen

Fan Ballots

Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

788,116
630,761
608,660
430,267
90,402
58,836
45,663
27,527

All-Century Starter

Rank

Third Basemen

Fan Ballots

Notes

855,654

761,700

656,511

174,529

160,271

96,699

All-Century Starter

Rank

Shortstops

Fan Ballots

Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

669,033
598,168
589,025
526,740
134,655
129,328
28,877
27,789

All-Century Starter

Special Panel Selection

Rank

Outfielders

Fan Ballots

Notes

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.

Cool Papa Bell

Oscar Charleston

1,158,044
1,156,782
1,125,583
1,115,896
1,054,423
988,168
777,056
645,389
629,742
582,937
571,279
326,415
296,039
232,476
222,082
220,226
180,940
173,279
131,361
97,911
84,461
71,585
67,719
63,410
59,189
51,748
32,302
15,930
15,057
13,893
11,238
10,553
9,475
9,415

All-Century Starter

Special Panel Selection

Negro League All-Star

All Century Team Voting Analysis

Sandy Koufax was asked who he thought the best pitcher was and he picked Warren Spahn, who won more games than any left-hander in history. "Not only for what he did on the field," Koufax commented then added, "He'll kill me for doing this. He pitched in the whole damn century."

A common question asked to baseball "experts" is who would you select to pitch a World Series game seven and Bob Gibson is often chosen. Gibson was told about this after the ceremony and replied, "That would be my answer too!"

An interesting thought at the time was should Ken Griffey, Jr. stay healthy and choose to play long enough, he could be selected for the next All Century Team...

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