Major League Baseball Centennial All-Time Teams

In 1969, Major League Baseball celebrated its centennial with a landmark event: the naming of its first official All-Time Team and an accompanying All-Time "Living" Team, both unveiled at a star-studded banquet on July 21, the night before that year's All-Star Game. ^[1] For the first time, fans played a central role in the selection process, voting for all-time franchise teams in each major league city, which served as nominees for the national team. Supplemented by ballots from The Sporting News and a panel of writers and broadcasters, finalists were chosen for each position, leading to Oscar-style award presentations at a gala attended by Hall of Famers, current stars, politicians, and celebrities. ^[2]

At the same event, Babe Ruth was crowned the greatest player of all time, while Joe DiMaggio was honored as the greatest "living" player. ^[3]

All-Time Team

Sources: ^{[4] [5]}

Greatest All-Time Player – Babe Ruth

• Finalists – Joe DiMaggio and Ty Cobb

Position	Selected players	Finalists
Catcher	Mickey Cochrane	Roy Campanella Bill Dickey
First baseman	Lou Gehrig	Stan Musial George Sisler
Second baseman	Rogers Hornsby	Eddie Collins Charlie Gehringer
Third baseman	Pie Traynor	Brooks Robinson Jackie Robinson
Shortstop	Honus Wagner	Ernie Banks Joe Cronin
Right fielder	Babe Ruth	Willie Mays Tris Speaker Ted Williams
Center fielder	Ty Cobb
Left fielder	Joe DiMaggio
Right-handed pitcher	Walter Johnson	Christy Mathewson Cy Young
Left-handed pitcher	Lefty Grove	Sandy Koufax Carl Hubbell
Manager	John McGraw	Joe McCarthy Casey Stengel

All-Time "Living" Team

Sources: ^{[4] [5]}

Greatest "Living" Player – Joe DiMaggio

• Finalists – Ted Williams and Stan Musial

Position	Selected players	Finalists
Catcher	Bill Dickey	Yogi Berra Roy Campanella Gabby Hartnett
First baseman	Stan Musial George Sisler	Bill Terry
Second baseman	Charlie Gehringer	Frank Frisch Jackie Robinson
Third baseman	Pie Traynor	Brooks Robinson Jackie Robinson
Shortstop	Joe Cronin	Luke Appling Ernie Banks Lou Boudreau
Right fielder	Willie Mays	Hank Aaron Mickey Mantle Stan Musial
Center fielder	Joe DiMaggio
Left fielder	Ted Williams
Right-handed pitcher	Bob Feller	Dizzy Dean Bob Gibson
Left-handed pitcher	Lefty Grove	Sandy Koufax Carl Hubbell Warren Spahn
Manager	Casey Stengel	Walter Alston Leo Durocher Joe McCarthy

See also

• Major League Baseball All-Century Team
• Major League Baseball All-Time Team, a similar team chosen by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 1997
• 1969 Major League Baseball season
• Latino Legends Team
• Team of the century
• DHL Hometown Heroes
• List of MLB awards
• Baseball awards § United States
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Further reading

• Nemec, David. PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL: The First 100 Years – 1869–1969. New York: Atheneum, 1969. OCLC 2199632.
• Roger Angell (July 26, 1969). "Baseball Centennial Souvenir Program". The New Yorker.

References

1. Petriello, Mike (April 18, 2007). "Celebrating Baseball's Centennial". The Hardball Times. FanGraphs. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
2. "Memories & Dreams: Celebrating Professional Baseball's Centennial". Appel PR. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
3. "1969 National League Season Summary". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
4. "July 23, 1969: Willie McCovey's two homers power National League to All-Star win". SABR. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
5. "1969 MLB All-Time Teams". web.archive.org. 2025-04-30. Retrieved 2025-04-30.

External links

• Professional Baseball – The First 100 Years from YouTube
• Year In Review: 1969 from Baseball Almanac