Morning rolled around and after grabbing my coffee, I scrolled through some baseball forums. Kept seeing the same old arguments pop up, folks yelling into the void about that All-Century Team MLB announced way back when 1999 turned into 2000. Figured, why not dig into those debates myself today? Just see why people are still mad about a list that’s older than some rookies. Here’s exactly how it went down.
Starting the Deep Dive
First thing I did was fire up the laptop. Headed straight for old sports news archives. Typed in “MLB All Century Team fan outrage” and man, the results poured in. Wasn’t digging for polished articles though – I wanted the raw fan takes. Jumped onto a couple old, crusty-looking baseball message boards. You know the type, layout straight outta 2004. Started reading pages and pages of rants.
The first major sore spot slapped me right in the face: Shortstop. Holy smokes, the Yankees fans were absolutely steaming, even now. Everyone and their cousin thought Derek Jeter got handed the spot just because he played in New York back then. Forum after forum had people screaming that Alex Rodriguez, playing short for Seattle back in ’99 and putting up monster numbers compared to Jeter, should’ve walked it. People were typing in ALL CAPS, arguing stats like batting average and home runs. A-Rod had way more pop! Jeter had the rings! Felt like I was watching a bar fight happen in slow motion across my screen.
Getting Into the Weeds
Pulled up the actual player stats next. Needed to see the numbers side-by-side myself. A-Rod’s 1999: .285 average, 42 homers, 111 RBIs. Jeter’s 1999: .349 average, 24 homers, 102 RBIs. Okay, Jeter hit way better for average that year, A-Rod crushed it for power. Felt like an “apples and oranges” thing. But the real kicker? A-Rod actually finished SIXTH in the voting for the team! Behind some legends, sure, but also behind Barry Larkin? Fans were still furious he wasn’t even the top vote-getting shortstop. The argument wasn’t just Jeter vs. A-Rod; it was “Why wasn’t A-Rod even properly considered?”
Then, boom. Another name exploded onto my screen: Pete Rose. Forgot he was voted onto the team! MLB bosses actually announced him as part of the Century Team! And then… they walked it back hard a few weeks later. Saw forum posts dripping with sarcasm: “Yeah, let’s honor the guy we banned for gambling, brilliant!” And the other side firing back: “Greatest hitter ever deserves the spot, ban or no ban!” Total mess. Found myself nodding along with posts about how awkward that whole “he’s on! wait, he’s not!” dance must have been.
The Pitchers and the Juice
Switched gears and dug into the pitchers. Roger Clemens dominated the pitching wins and strikeouts lists in 1999. He got voted onto the team. Fair enough back then? But then it hit me. Nobody talked about the cheating drugs back then like they do now. Scrolled through recent forum threads. Man, the tone had shifted dramatically. Posters today practically spit when Clemens’ name comes up regarding the Century Team. “Should be stripped!” “Fraud!” “What a joke putting a cheater like that up there with real legends!” Felt like discovering a completely different argument layered on top of the original one. The scandal changed how people see his spot entirely.
The Cal Ripken Conundrum
Thought I was done. Nope. Kept seeing Cal Ripken Jr.’s name popping up. Iron Man, right? Fan favorite! How could anyone argue? So I dug deeper. Oh boy, I found it. The argument wasn’t about whether Ripken belonged, but WHERE he belonged. The Century Team listed him as a third baseman. THIRD BASE? Seriously? Cal Ripken IS the definition of a legendary shortstop! Spent the vast, vast majority of his career there. Found old articles where even his manager thought it was bizarre. Forum posters were practically yelling: “He made his name at shortstop!” “Why move him??” “They just shoved him at third base to make room for Jeter!” It felt like a sneaky move everyone was still calling out decades later. Just awkward.
Wrapping My Head Around It
Sat back after a couple hours. Felt like I’d been dragged through the wringer of baseball history’s greatest arguments. It wasn’t just about skill, truly. Felt like watching three things constantly collide: raw stats, juicy controversies the players were wrapped up in later (like steroids or gambling), and just plain old popularity contests and team loyalties screaming at each other. That Jeter/A-Rod thing? Pure fan allegiance warring with numbers. Rose? Massive controversy landing smack on the hallowed Century list. Clemens? Legacy poisoned after the fact.
My big takeaway? This All-Century Team list is like a stone thrown into a pond back in ’99, and the ripples are STILL hitting the shore. People can’t agree on stats. They can’t forget the scandals. They sure as heck won’t stop defending their team’s guy. Makes sense now why folks are still typing angrily about it. It’s baseball’s version of picking a scab that just won’t heal.