The Major League Baseball All-Time Team was chosen in 1997 to comprise the top manager and top player in each of 13 positional categories across Major League Baseball history. The team, announced by Classic Sports Network in conjunction with the events celebrated around the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, were chosen by a panel of 36 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America in a first- and second-place Borda count voting system.
| Position | First-team selection | Team(s) represented by season |
Year of induction into National Baseball Hall of Fame |
Total votes (First-team votes) |
Runner-up | Team(s) represented by season |
Year of induction into National Baseball Hall of Fame |
Total votes (First-team votes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | Johnny Bench | Cincinnati Reds (1967–1983) | 1989 | 52 (24) | Yogi Berra | New York Yankees (1946–1963) New York Mets (1965) |
1972 | 22 (4) |
| First baseman | Lou Gehrig | New York Yankees (1923–1939) | 1939 | 66½ (31) | Jimmie Foxx | Philadelphia Athletics (1925–1935) Boston Red Sox (1936–1942) Chicago Cubs (1942, 1944) Philadelphia Phillies (1945) |
1951 | 19 (3) |
| Second baseman | Rogers Hornsby | St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 1933) New York Giants (1927) Boston Braves (1928) Chicago Cubs (1929–1932) St. Louis Browns (1933–1937) |
1942 | 44 (17) | Joe Morgan | Houston Astros (1963–1971, 1980) Cincinnati Reds (1972–1979) San Francisco Giants (1981–1982) Philadelphia Phillies (1983) Oakland Athletics (1984) |
1990 | 23 (6) |
| Shortstop | Honus Wagner | Louisville Colonels (1897–1899) Pittsburgh Pirates (1900–1917) |
1936 | 55 (23) | Cal Ripken, Jr. | Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001) | 2007 | 24 (6) |
| Third baseman | Mike Schmidt | Philadelphia Phillies (1972–1989) | 1995 | 50 (21) | Brooks Robinson | Baltimore Orioles (1955–1977) | 1983 | 37 (13) |
| Left fielder | Ted Williams | Boston Red Sox (1939–1942, 1946–1960) | 1966 | 68 (32) | Stan Musial | St. Louis Cardinals (1941–1944, 1946–1963) | 1969 | 36 (4) |
| Center fielder | Willie Mays | San Francisco Giants (1951–1952, 1954–1972) New York Mets (1972–1973) |
1979 | 57 (25) | Ty Cobb | Detroit Tigers (1905–1926) Philadelphia Athletics (1927–1928) |
1936 | 22 (7) |
| Right fielder | Babe Ruth | Boston Red Sox (1914–1919) New York Yankees (1920–1934) Boston Braves (1935) |
1936 | 67 (31) | Hank Aaron | Milwaukee Braves (1954–1974) Milwaukee Brewers (1975–1976) |
1982 | 36 (5) |
| Designated hitter | Paul Molitor | Milwaukee Brewers (1978–1992) Toronto Blue Jays (1993–1995) Minnesota Twins (1996–1998) |
2004 | 48 (22) | Harold Baines | Chicago White Sox (1980–1989, 1996–1997, 2001–2002) Texas Rangers (1989–1990) Oakland Athletics (1990–1992) Baltimore Orioles (1993–1995, 1997–1999, 2000) Cleveland Indians (1999) |
Not applicable | 12 (3) |
| Right-handed starting pitcher | Walter Johnson | Washington Senators (1907–1927) | 1936 | 30 (9) | Cy Young | Cleveland Spiders (1890–1898) St. Louis Perfectos (1899–1900) Boston Americans (1901–1908) Cleveland Naps (1909–1911) Boston Rustlers (1911) |
1937 | 25 (12) |
| Left-handed starting pitcher | Sandy Koufax | Los Angeles Dodgers (1955–1966) | 1972 | 32 (11) | Warren Spahn | Milwaukee Braves (1942, 1946–1964) New York Mets (1965) San Francisco Giants (1965) |
1973 | 28 (11) |
| Relief pitcher | Dennis Eckersley | Cleveland Indians (1975–1977) Boston Red Sox (1978–1984, 1998) Chicago Cubs (1984–1986) Oakland Athletics (1987–1995) St. Louis Cardinals (1996–1997) |
2004 | 40 (16) | Rollie Fingers | Oakland Athletics (1968–1976) San Diego Padres (1977–1980) Milwaukee Brewers (1981–1982, 1984–1985) |
1992 | 29 (9) |
| Manager | Casey Stengel | Brooklyn Dodgers (1934–1936) Boston Braves (1938–1943) New York Yankees (1949–1960) New York Mets (1962–1965) |
1966 | 22 (6) | Joe McCarthy | Chicago Cubs (1926–1930) New York Yankees (1931–1946) Boston Red Sox (1948–1950) |
1957 | 18 (6) |
Famous quotes containing the words major, league, baseball and/or team:
“I have not had major experience of talking with people once pronounced brain-dead, but I think we could be safe in saying he did not have great zip.”
—Sir Howard Smith (b. 1919)
“Stereotypes fall in the face of humanity. You toodle along, thinking that all gay men wear leather after dark and should never, ever be permitted around a Little League field. And then one day your best friend from college, the one your kids adore, comes out to you.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Baseball is the religion that worships the obvious and gives thanks that things are exactly as they seem. Instead of celebrating mysteries, baseball rejoices in the absence of mysteries and trusts that, if we watch what is laid before our eyes, down to the last detail, we will cultivate the gift of seeing things as they really are.”
—Thomas Boswell, U.S. sports journalist. “The Church of Baseball,” Baseball: An Illustrated History, ed. Geoffrey C. Ward, Knopf (1994)
“Relying on any one disciplinary approach—time-out, negotiation, tough love, the star system—puts the parenting team at risk. Why? Because children adapt to any method very quickly; today’s effective technique becomes tomorrow’s worn dance.”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)