Major League Baseball All Century Team

Major League Baseball All-Century Team – Legends of Baseball – Special Covers year 2000

Major League Baseball is a Professional Baseball Organisation. It is oldest among the four major professional sports leagues in United States of America and Canada. 15 teams each play in the National League and American League (29 from the USA and One from Canada). In 1999 the Major League Baseball All-Century Baseball Team was chosen by popular votes of Fans. A Panel of experts first compiled a list of 100 greatest Major League players from the past Century. Over two million fans voted using paper and online ballots

The panel named a thirty-member team after vote account and nominations.

Stamps: The US Postal Service issued a set of 20 stamps on Legends of Baseball on 06 Jul 2000. Each stamp had a print quantity of 11,250,000. All the stamps were priced at the postal rate of 33 cents and were multi-colour stamps printed by offset lithography process A special cover on 10 Legends who feature in nominations for All century team are shown below.

Tristram(Tris) Edgar Speaker was born on 4 April 1888 at Texas. He was nicknamed "Grey Eagle". He was probably one of the best offensive and defensive centre fielders that the game has seen. His 792 Career Doubles represent an MLB career record, He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. He died on 8 December 1958 at Texas.

Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner was also called Hans Wagner or Honus Wagner. He was born on 24 February 1874 at Pennsylvania. He played for 21 seasons and mostly for Pittsburgh Pirates as a shortstop. He was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He died on 6 December 1955.

HONUS WAGNER- Shortstop – Nominated in 100 All-Century Team

Harold Joseph "Pie' Traynor was born on 11 November 1898. He earned his nickname "Pie" in his childhood. After the baseball games when all kids would rush for ice cream, Harold would prefer Pie as a dessert. He played for Pittsburgh Pirates as a third baseman. He served as a manager for Pirates and was a radio broadcaster. He was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948. He died on 16 March 1972.

PIE TRAYNOR -Third Base – Nominated in 100 All-Century Team

Josh Gibson was born on 21 December 1911. He became a Professional by accident. On 25 July 1930 Homestead Grays catcher Buch Ewing injured his hand and Josh Gibson who was in the stands was called upon to replace him. He was among the most powerful hitters in the league. He was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. He died on 20 Jan 1947.

JOSH GIBSON – Catcher – Nominated in 100 All-Century Team

Denton True "CY" Young was born on 29 Mar 1867. His primary team was Cleveland Spiders but he played for five different teams. He left a legacy as a Pitcher which is unlikely to be matched. This right-hander won 511 games during his tenure in Baseball. A number of his pitching records stood for over a century. He was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. He died on 4 November 1955 at Ohio.

C Y Young – Pitcher – Nominated in 100 All-Century Team