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SportsCentury

SportsCentury

19995 Seasons
Documentary

SportsCentury is an ESPN biography program that reviews the people and athletic events that defined sports in North America throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1999, ESPN counted down the Top 50 Athletes of the 20th Century, selected from North American athletes and voted on by a panel of sports journalists and observers, premiering a new biography highlighting each top athlete every week throughout the year. The episodes for the top two athletes, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth, appeared on a special combined edition broadcast on Christmas Day on ABC. The top two names were announced in no particular order, and the final positioning was announced at the conclusion of the two episodes. An additional list of numbers 51-100 were announced on the ESPN SportsCentury website. Themed specials such as Greatest Games, Greatest Coaches, Greatest Dynasties, and Most Influential Individuals were premiered throughout the year, as well as six SportsCenter of the Decade programs. After the initial run was complete, the episodes were rerun at various times on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic. The original plan for the series was to expand to include #51-#100. Ultimately, the series featured nearly every athlete from #51-#100, and numerous other personalities, especially those who were recently deceased, or notable for more recent accomplishments.

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65
Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel
2000-10-03
1
1900-49
1900-49
1999-01-21
2
No. 50 -- Chris Evert
No. 50 -- Chris Evert
1999-01-22
3
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson
1999-01-29
4
No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
No. 48 -- Pete Sampras
1999-02-05
5
No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
No. 47 -- Edwin Moses
1999-02-12
6
No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
No. 46 -- Eric Heiden
1999-02-19
7
No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
No. 45 -- Bill Tilden
1999-02-26
8
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s
1999-03-09
9
No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
No. 44 -- Bobby Jones
1999-03-12
10
No. 43 -- Julius Erving
No. 43 -- Julius Erving
1999-03-19
11
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax
1999-04-02
12
No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph
1999-04-09
13
No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor
1999-04-16
14
No. 39 -- Walter Payton
No. 39 -- Walter Payton
1999-04-23
15
No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
No. 38 -- Ben Hogan
1999-04-30
16
No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle
1999-05-07
17
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s
1999-05-21
18
No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson
1999-05-14
19
The Greatest Coaches of the Century
The Greatest Coaches of the Century
1999-05-22
20
No. 35 -- Secretariat
No. 35 -- Secretariat
1999-05-21
21
Most Influential People in Sports
Most Influential People in Sports
1999-05-23
22
Greatest Dynasties
Greatest Dynasties
1999-05-30
23
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig
1999-05-28
24
No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
No. 33 -- Mark Spitz
1999-06-04
25
Greatest Games
Greatest Games
1999-06-05
26
No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas
1999-06-11
27
No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
No. 31 -- Bobby Orr
1999-06-18
28
No. 30 -- Larry Bird
No. 30 -- Larry Bird
1999-06-25
29
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s
1999-07-09
30
No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer
1999-07-02
31
No. 28 -- Red Grange
No. 28 -- Red Grange
1999-07-09
32
No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
No. 27 -- Jerry Rice
1999-07-16
33
No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1999-07-23
34
No. 25 -- Joe Montana
No. 25 -- Joe Montana
1999-07-30
35
No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson
1999-07-30
36
No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
1999-08-06
37
No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio
1999-08-20
38
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s
1999-09-17
39
No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
No. 21 -- Gordie Howe
1999-09-03
40
No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
No. 20 -- Ty Cobb
1999-09-17
41
No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova
1999-09-24
42
No. 18 -- Bill Russell
No. 18 -- Bill Russell
1999-10-01
43
No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
No. 17 -- Magic Johnson
1999-10-08
44
No. 16 -- Ted Williams
No. 16 -- Ted Williams
1999-10-08
45
No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson
1999-10-15
46
No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
No. 14 -- Hank Aaron
1999-10-29
47
No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain
1999-10-29
48
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis
1999-11-05
49
No. 11 -- Joe Louis
No. 11 -- Joe Louis
1999-11-19
50
No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson
1999-12-03
51
No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus
1999-12-03
52
No. 8 -- Willie Mays
No. 8 -- Willie Mays
1999-12-10
53
No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe
1999-12-10
54
No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
No. 6 -- Jesse Owens
1999-12-17
55
No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky
1999-12-17
56
No. 4 -- Jim Brown
No. 4 -- Jim Brown
1999-12-24
57
No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali
1999-12-24
58
No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
No. 2 -- Babe Ruth
1999-12-26
59
No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
No. 1 -- Michael Jordan
1999-12-26
60
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s
2000-03-26
61
Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
2003-10-13
62
Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
2003-10-17
63
Brian Piccolo
Brian Piccolo
2001-11-02
64
Brian Piccolo
Brian Piccolo
2001-11-02
102
No. 50 - Chris Evert
No. 50 - Chris Evert
1999-01-22
103
Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
2000-07-10
104
Willie Mays
Willie Mays
2000-07-25
105
Billy Martin
Billy Martin
2000-08-07
106
Don Larsen
Don Larsen
2000-10-23
1999
Ended
ESPN Classic
Chris Berman
Chris Berman
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler
Dan Patrick
Dan Patrick

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