On deck: Team of the century By Gregg Kruppa, Globe Staff, 06/23/99 Beginning at the All-Star Game July 13 at Fenway Park, fans will have the opportunity to select the 25 members of baseball's All-Century Team. Fans will select two players at each infield position, nine outfielders, two catchers, and six pitchers from a total of 100 nominees. The list of nominees will be unveiled in Boston on the day of the All-Star Game, with a group of the players expected to attend the announcement at the Sheraton Boston hotel. "As we approach the millennium, we thought it was appropriate to select the baseball players who are the greatest in this century, and we thought it was appropriate to have our fans be an integral part of that selection process,'' said Kathleen Francis, vice president of marketing for Major League Baseball. The nominees will be selected by a group of sportswriters and commissioner Bud Selig's office. Voting will take place from July 13 to Sept. 10, with ballots available at Kmarts, in special advertisements for MasterCard International in TV Guide and Sports Illustrated, and on Major League Baseball's website, www.majorleaguebaseball.com. MasterCard and Major League Baseball are sponsoring the vote. A television commercial promoting the selection process will be broadcast beginning at about the time of the All-Star Game. The team will be announced during the NBC broadcast of Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 23. The panel of sportswriters will select a starting lineup -- including a righthanded and a lefthanded pitcher -- which will be announced before Game 2 the following night. "People will sit in the coffee shops in the morning with their paper and you'll see them arguing, you'll see them arguing which was the greatest player -- Mantle, Mays, or DiMaggio,'' said former Detroit and Cincinnati manager Sparky Anderson, the program's spokesman. "There is no answer. That's why baseball is the greatest mystery.'' Francis said that banned players, including Pete Rose, are eligible for the team but would not be able to participate in any ceremonies or functions. This story ran on page C04 of the Boston Globe on 06/22/99. © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.