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Of the 14,000 who played major league baseball in the 20th century, 100 were selected by a panel as nominations for the all-century team. Then fans, submitting more than 2 million ballots, picked 30, and another panel added five to make up the 35 profiled in this 71-minute tape.

It’s sort of 35 mini-tapes in one.

The producers at Major League Baseball Productions did an excellent job cramming in information, highlights and interesting sound bites in the tape.

As narrator Bob Costas says in the introduction, the tape “brings a generation of heroes together on a team 100 years in the making.” He also calls it “the most exclusive club in the history of sports.”

The team has been announced, so there are no surprises. But the value of this tape is providing baseball fans with a collection of the greatest players and highlights of their careers.

The tape, of course, tells us about players we are familiar with, such as Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Cal Ripken, Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Johnny Bench. But we also learn that Rogers Hornsby batted .402 over a five-year period, that Walter Johnson pitched 110 shutouts, that Cy Young had 511 wins and 751 complete games and that shortstop Honus Wagner may have been the best all-around player of them all.

To put Young’s record in perspective, if a pitcher won 20 games for 20 years, he would still be 111 wins short of 511.

Pete Rose is the 35th and last player profiled in the tape. No, there is no mention of his gambling or banishment from baseball. And no, nothing from the Jim Gray interview.

McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. are the two active players on the team. As Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau notes, Griffey may be the first player to make two all-century teams.

Fans in 2099 will no doubt be impressed.