SportsCentury

SportsCentury is an ESPN biography program that reviews the people and athletic events that defined sports in North America throughout the 20th and 21st Century.

The primary feature aired in the series was a countdown of North America's 100 great athletes of the 20th century. In 1998, ESPN polled 48 well known sports-media personalities regarding their athletes of the century. Beginning in January 1999, an athlete's biographical profile was featured in a half-hour program. An additional list of numbers 51-100 were announced on the ESPN SportsCentury website.

In total, 23 baseball players (the most of any sport) were selected to the list which appears below; both Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders were counted as baseball and football players while Jim Thorpe was counted as both a baseball and football player as well as in the track and field.

There were also themed specials such as Greatest Games, Greatest Coaches, Greatest Dynasties, and Most Influential Individuals.

SportsCentury: Top 100 Athletes of the 20th Century

BOLD indicates that the person was selected for playing baseball

1. Michael Jordan
2. Babe Ruth
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Jim Brown
5. Wayne Gretzky
6. Jesse Owens
7. Jim Thorpe
8. Willie Mays
9. Jack Nicklaus
10. Babe Didrikson
11. Joe Louis
12. Carl Lewis
13. Wilt Chamberlain
14. Hank Aaron
15. Jackie Robinson
16. Ted Williams
17. Magic Johnson
18. Bill Russell
19. Martina Navratilova
20. Ty Cobb
21. Gordie Howe
22. Joe DiMaggio
23. Jackie Joyner-Kersee
24. Sugar Ray Robinson
25. Joe Montana
26. Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
27. Jerry Rice
28. Red Grange
29. Arnold Palmer
30. Larry Bird
31. Bobby Orr
32. Johnny Unitas
33. Mark Spitz
34. Lou Gehrig
35. Secreteriat
36. Oscar Robertson
37. Mickey Mantle
38. Ben Hogan
39. Walter Payton
40. Lawrence Taylor
41. Wilma Rudolph
42. Sandy Koufax
43. Julius Erving
44. Bobby Jones
45. Bill Tilden
46. Eric Heiden
47. Edwin Moses
48. Pete Sampras
49. O.J. Simpson
50. Chris Evert
51. Rocky Marciano
52. Jack Dempsey
53. Rafer Johnson
54. Greg Louganis
55. Mario Lemieux
56. Pete Rose
57. Willie Shoemaker
58. Elgin Baylor
59. Billie Jean King
60. Walter Johnson
61. Stan Musial
62. Jerry West
63. Satchel Paige
64. Sammy Baugh
65. Althea Gibson
66. Eddie Arcaro
67. Bob Gibson
68. Al Oerter
69. Bonnie Blair
70. Dick Butkus
71. Roberto Clemente
72. Bo Jackson
73. Josh Gibson
74. Deion Sanders
75. Dan Marino
76. Barry Sanders
77. Cy Young
78. Bob Mathias
79. Gale Sayers
80. A.J. Foyt
81. Jimmy Connors
82. Bobby Hull
83. Honus Wagner
84. Man O'War
85. Maurice Richard
86. Otto Graham
87. Henry Armstrong
88. Joe Namath
89. Rogers Hornsby
90. Richard Petty
91. Bob Beamon
92. Mario Andretti
93. Don Hutson
94. Bob Cousy
95. George Blanda
96. Michael Johnson
97. Citation
98. Don Budge
99. Sam Snead
100. Jack Johnson

SportsCentury: Greatest Coaches of the 20th Century

BOLD indicates that the person was selected for managing baseball

1. Vince Lombardi
2. John Wooden
3. Red Auerbach
4. Dean Smith
5. Bear Bryant
6. John McGraw
7. George Halas
8. Don Shula
9. Paul Brown
10. Knute Rockne

SportsCentury: Greatest Games of the 20th Century

BOLD indicates that the game was a baseball game

1. The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL Championship Game
2. Bobby Thomson hits the Shot Heard 'Round the World to win the 1951 National League pennant for the New York Giants
3. The New York Jets defeat Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl
4. At the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York the United States beats the Soviet Union in hockey
5. Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier III in 1975 at Quezon City in the Philippines
6. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1967 NFL Championship Game
7. Boston Red Sox win Game 6 of 1975 World Series over the Cincinnati Reds on a Carlton Fisk home run
8. Tiger Woods wins the 1997 Masters Tournament
9. Willis Reed and the New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals
10. Björn Borg versus John McEnroe at the 1980 Wimbledon finals