Baseball's 100 Greatest Players
In 1999, The Sporting News assembled a list of the Baseball's 100 Greatest Players of the Twentieth Century. The list was created by a selection committee, made up of 12 TSN editors.
During a six-week voting process the list of players was pared down from a list that included every Hall of Fame member and other star and active players. The voting process involved each editor picking an unranked Top 10. Once a set of 10 players was agreed on, each voter ranked the players to form a consensus. This process of selection and ranking was used for the next 15 players (11-25), and every 25 thereafter.
Negro League players were included despite having never played in the Major Leagues and were judged by quotations from major league players who competed against them in barnstorming tours and testimonials from other Negro Leaguers, writers and fans who watched them play. Of the one hundred players selected four exclusively played in the Negro Leagues: Josh Gibson (#18), Buck Leonard (#47), and Cool Papa Bell (#66), and Oscar Charleston (#67).
A book, The Sporting News Selects Baseball's Greatest Players: A Celebration of the 20th Century's Best (ISBN 0892046082), on the players was published and television special was aired.
Ranked List of Players[edit]
- Babe Ruth
- Willie Mays
- Ty Cobb
- Walter Johnson
- Hank Aaron
- Lou Gehrig
- Christy Mathewson
- Ted Williams
- Rogers Hornsby
- Stan Musial
- Joe DiMaggio
- Grover Alexander
- Honus Wagner
- Cy Young
- Jimmie Foxx
- Johnny Bench
- Mickey Mantle
- Josh Gibson
- Satchel Paige
- Roberto Clemente
- Warren Spahn
- Frank Robinson
- Lefty Grove
- Eddie Collins
- Pete Rose
- Sandy Koufax
- Tris Speaker
- Mike Schmidt
- Nap Lajoie
- Steve Carlton
- Bob Gibson
- Tom Seaver
- George Sisler
- Barry Bonds
- Joe Jackson
- Bob Feller
- Hank Greenberg
- Ernie Banks
- Greg Maddux
- Yogi Berra
- Nolan Ryan
- Mel Ott
- Al Simmons
- Jackie Robinson
- Carl Hubbell
- Charlie Gehringer
- Buck Leonard
- Reggie Jackson
- Tony Gwynn
- Roy Campanella
- Rickey Henderson
- Whitey Ford
- Roger Clemens
- Harry Heilmann
- George Brett
- Willie McCovey
- Bill Dickey
- Lou Brock
- Bill Terry
- Joe Morgan
- Rod Carew
- Paul Waner
- Eddie Mathews
- Jim Palmer
- Mickey Cochrane
- Cool Papa Bell
- Oscar Charleston
- Eddie Plank
- Harmon Killebrew
- Pie Traynor
- Juan Marichal
- Carl Yastrzemski
- Lefty Gomez
- Robin Roberts
- Willie Keeler
- Al Kaline
- Eddie Murray
- Cal Ripken, Jr.
- Joe Medwick
- Brooks Robinson
- Willie Stargell
- Ed Walsh
- Duke Snider
- Sam Crawford
- Dizzy Dean
- Kirby Puckett
- Ozzie Smith
- Frankie Frisch
- Goose Goslin
- Ralph Kiner
- Mark McGwire
- Chuck Klein
- Ken Griffey, Jr.
- Dave Winfield
- Wade Boggs
- Rollie Fingers
- Gaylord Perry
- Dennis Eckersley
- Paul Molitor
- Early Wynn
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