BALLOT MAKES SENSE: NOT ALL PRESENT TENSE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

The first thing you notice on the ballot for baseball's ``All-Century Team'' is the active players, conspicuous by their scarcity.

Eight present-day players - and not a single catcher, second baseman or third baseman - are scattered among 100 candidates for the dream roster.

That's how you know the candidates were chosen by a baseball-savvy committee and not by the dark marketing forces responsible for basketball's all-time list a couple of years ago. The NBA found room in its 50-man pantheon for nine active stars, including Shaquille O'Neal and Patrick Ewing, surely selected for their impressive collections of league-championship rings and MVP trophies, not for their big-city promotional value.

If the NBA people ran the baseball election, the ballot would have to include Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Sammy Sosa, Larry Walker and at least one of the American League's trio of sharp young shortstops.

None of them makes it, although Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken Jr., Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn and Rickey Henderson do. So young voters are sent to the history books, and lucky old-timers to their memories, to compare the achievements and significance of players from 1900 to 1998, from the World Series spotlight to the Negro League shadows.

How many active players can reasonably be squeezed into the 25-man all-time all-star team that fans are asked to choose between now and mid-September?

I'm going for two: a pitcher, Maddux (in a close call over Clemens), for defying the 1990s' offensive explosion and for figuring out the modern strike zone, and an outfielder, Griffey (over the less-complete Bonds), for a sensational first decade.

I tried to find a spot for one more: Ripken, not just for 2,632 games in a row, also for what he did in them. But the ballot calls for two shortstops, and there's no room next to Ernie Banks and Honus Wagner, both of whom outrank Ripken even in the good-guy department.

It gets no easier after that.

We're asked to pick six pitchers; lucky this club gets a lot of days off. Here goes: Maddux, Lefty Grove, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Satchel Paige and Cy Young himself.

Six is not enough. There's no room for a reliever, who would be Rollie Fingers, or my personal write-in choice, Hoyt Wilhelm, whose late ascent to the big leagues at age 28 and 21-year career gives hope to all of us undiscovered knuckleball pitchers.

Two catchers: Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra. Piazza is on pace to better their offensive numbers. But he'll never match their winning aura. Nobody will.

Two first basemen: Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. McGwire just passed Gehrig in home runs and is closing in on Foxx. Now Big Mac needs to hit safely in 500 consecutive at-bats to match Foxx's career batting average or 630 to match Gehrig's.

Two second basemen: Joe Morgan and Jackie Robinson. To those who'll point to Morgan's .271 career average - you had to see him in his prime as the best all-around member of the Big Red Machine. To those who'll say Robinson is a politically correct choice - you're right if you mean he's here because he's the most important player in baseball history.

Two third basemen: Mike Schmidt and Brooks Robinson. Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract named Schmidt the No. 1 third baseman of all time. That book was written in 1984. Schmidt would play five more years, adding 123 home runs and a third MVP award. The image of Robinson, on his stomach, holding his Rawlings aloft to show he'd hung onto Bench's liner in the 1970 World Series, sums up the old baseball tradition of aw-shucks triumph. Earl Weaver - Earl Weaver! - broke down crying at Brooks' retirement.

Nine outfielders (can't we make it a dozen?): Start with Babe Ruth, and then, in no particular order, Griffey, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Stan Musial and Ted Williams.

Henderson? Frank Robinson? Pete Rose? I tried. Yes, Rose is on the ballot, as is Shoeless Joe Jackson, despite their official baseball bans.

Maybe you can find space for them on your bench.

Ballots are available at ballparks, in Kmart stores, in Sports Illustrated and TV Guide magazines and online at majorleaguebaseball.com. Results will be announced Oct. 23 before the World Series opener.

Write-ins are permitted, so vote for Raul Mondesi if you must.

THE BALLOT OF THE CENTURY

The 100 names on the ballot - available at ballparks, in Kmart stores, in Sports Illustrated and TV Guide magazines and on-line at majorleaguebaseball.com - for baseball's ``All-Century Team'':

Catchers (select 2): Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Carlton Fisk, Josh Gibson, Gabby Hartnett.

1st basemen (2): Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Harmon Killebrew, Buck Leonard, Willie McCovey, Mark McGwire (x) , Eddie Murray, George Sisler, Bill Terry.

2nd basemen (2): Rod Carew, Eddie Collins, Charlie Gehringer, Rogers Hornsby, Napoleon Lajoie, Joe Morgan, Jackie Robinson.

3rd basemen (2): George Brett, Eddie Mathews, Paul Molitor, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Pie Traynor.

Shortstops (2): Luis Aparicio, Luke Appling, Ernie Banks, Joe Cronin, Cal Ripken Jr. (x) , Ozzie Smith, Honus Wagner, Robin Yount.

Outfielders (9): Hank Aaron, Cool Papa Bell, Barry Bonds (x) , Lou Brock, Oscar Charleston, Roberto Clemente, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Goose Goslin, Ken Griffey Jr. (x) , Tony Gwynn (x) , Harry Heilmann, Rickey Henderson (x) , Joe Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, Willie Keeler, Ralph Kiner, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Pete Rose, Babe Ruth, Al Simmons, Duke Snider, Tris Speaker, Willie Stargell, Paul Waner, Billie Williams, Ted Williams, Carl Yasztrzemski.

Pitchers (6, at least 1 left-handed): Grover Cleveland Alexander, Mordecai Brown, Steve Carlton (L), Roger Clemens (x) , Dizzy Dean, Dennis Eckersley, Bob Feller, Rollie Fingers, Whitey Ford (L), Bob Gibson, Lefty Grove (L), Carl Hubbell (L), Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax (L), Greg Maddux (x) , Juan Marichal, Christy Mathewson, Satchel Paige, Jim Palmer, Eddie Plank (L), Robin Roberts, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Warren Spahn (L), Ed Walsh, Cy Young.

(x) - Active player.

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BOX: THE BALLOT OF THE CENTURY (see text)