I compiled a list of all the players who made an MLS Best XI to analyze, and there's some interesting stuff there. There have been 110 Best XI appearances (11 x 10), and 67 players have made it, including 23 more than once.
You can see all 10 year end Best XI's through this handy page at Wikipedia. But first, here's a short trivia quiz about the Best XI (answers are below):
QUIZ
1. Who are the only two players to make the Best XI four years in a row?
2. Besides Jaime Moreno and Taylor Twellman, who is the only forward to be named to the Best XI more than once?
3. Which year had the fewest returnees from the previous year, with one?
4. Which team (minus RSL and Chivas) is the only one not to have a player make the Best XI twice?
5. Which teams (minus RSL and Chivas) have the most and least Best XI selections?
...
ANSWERS
1. Chris Armas (1998-01) and Marco Etcheverry (1996-99)
2. John Spencer (2001, 03)
3. 2002 (Tim Howard). The World Cup probably had a lot to do with it.
4. Miami. 5 Best XI selections, all in 2001 (Preki, Llamosa, Mastroeni, Pineda Chacon, Serna).
5. Chicago (16) and Colorado/Miami/New England (5)
Other Interesting Facts
1. 45 out of 110 selections taken by foreigners.
2. No player has made it with three different teams. Now that Agoos and Chung have retired, only Pope has a chance this year.
3. Eddie Pope also is the only player to have two appearances for two different teams (DC, MET). He's also the only one to have two seperate "streaks" of Best XI selections (1997-98 and 2003-04).
4. Robin Fraser and Jaime Moreno have the longest spans between their first and last Best XI appearances, 8 years.
5. The longest time between Best XI appearances is 5 years, shared by three players: Chung (97-02), Moreno (99-04), and Pope (98-03).
Selections By Team
CHI | 16 | LA | 15 | DC | 15 | SJ | 12 | KC | 10 | MET | 8 | TB | 7 | CLB | 6 | DAL | 6 | COL | 5 | MIA | 5 | NE | 5 | CHV | 0 | RSL | 0 |
Returning From Previous Year
1997 | 3
| 1998 | 3 | 1999 | 5 | 2000 | 3 | 2001 | 3 | 2002 | 1 | 2003 | 2 | 2004 | 2 | 2005 | 3 |
The List
| Player | Pos | Times | Years | Teams | 1 | Robin Fraser | D | 5 | 1996, 98-00, 04 | LA 4, CLB | 1 | Chris Armas | M | 5 | 1998-01, 03 | CHI | 3 | Marco Etcheverry | M | 4 | 1996-99 | DC | 3 | Preki | M | 4 | 1996-97, 01, 03 | KC 2, MIA, KC | 3 | Eddie Pope | D | 4 | 1997-98, 03-04 | DC 2, MET 2 | 3 | Jaime Moreno | F | 4 | 1997, 99, 04-05 | DC | 7 | Mauricio Cienfuegos | M | 3 | 1996, 98-99 | LA | 7 | Carlos Valdarrama | M | 3 | 1996-97, 00 | TB | 7 | Mark Chung | M | 3 | 1997, 02-03 | KC, COL 2 | 7 | Jeff Agoos | D | 3 | 1997, 99, 01 | DC 2, SJ | 7 | Peter Nowak | M | 3 | 1998, 00-01 | CHI | 7 | Steve Ralston | M | 3 | 1999-00, 02 | TB 2, NE | 13 | Lubos Kubik | D | 2 | 1998-99 | CHI | 13 | Thomas Dooley | D | 2 | 1997-98 | CLB | 13 | Greg Vanney | D | 2 | 2000-01 | LA | 13 | John Spencer | F | 2 | 2001, 03 | COL | 13 | Tim Howard | GK | 2 | 2001-02 | MET | 13 | Carlos Bocanegra | D | 2 | 2002-03 | CHI | 13 | Taylor Twellman | F | 2 | 2002, 05 | NE | 13 | Ryan Nelson | D | 2 | 2003-04 | DC | 13 | Pat Onstad | GK | 2 | 2003, 05 | SJ | 13 | Ronnie O'Brien | M | 2 | 2004-05 | DAL | 13 | Jimmy Conrad | D | 2 | 2004-05 | KC | 24 | Mark Dodd | GK | 1 | 1996 | DAL | 24 | Leonel Alvarez | D | 1 | 1996 | DAL | 24 | Eduardo Hurtado | F | 1 | 1996 | LA | 24 | Roberto Donadoni | M | 1 | 1996 | MET | 24 | John Doyle | D | 1 | 1996 | SJ | 24 | Roy Lassiter | F | 1 | 1996 | TB | 24 | Brad Friedel | GK | 1 | 1997 | CLB | 24 | Richard Gough | D | 1 | 1997 | KC | 24 | Ronald Cerritos | F | 1 | 1997 | SJ | 24 | Zach Thornton | GK | 1 | 1998 | CHI | 24 | Stern John | F | 1 | 1998 | CLB | 24 | Cobi Jones | F | 1 | 1998 | LA | 24 | Jason Kreis | F | 1 | 1999 | DAL | 24 | Kevin Hartman | GK | 1 | 1999 | LA | 24 | Eddie Lewis | M | 1 | 1999 | SJ | 24 | Hristo Stoitchkov | M | 1 | 2000 | CHI | 24 | Tony Meola | GK | 1 | 2000 | KC | 24 | Peter Vermes | D | 1 | 2000 | KC | 24 | Clint Mathis | F | 1 | 2000 | MET | 24 | Mamadou Diallo | F | 1 | 2000 | TB | 24 | Carlos Llamosa | D | 1 | 2001 | MIA | 24 | Pablo Mastroeni | D | 1 | 2001 | MIA | 24 | Alex Pineda Chacon | F | 1 | 2001 | MIA | 24 | Diego Serna | F | 1 | 2001 | MIA | 24 | Jeff Cunningham | F | 1 | 2002 | CLB | 24 | Oscar Pareja | M | 1 | 2002 | DAL | 24 | Alexi Lalas | D | 1 | 2002 | LA | 24 | Carlos Ruiz | F | 1 | 2002 | LA | 24 | Wade Barrett | D | 1 | 2002 | SJ | 24 | Ronnie Ekelund | M | 1 | 2002 | SJ | 24 | DaMarcus Beasley | M | 1 | 2003 | CHI | 24 | Ante Razov | F | 1 | 2003 | CHI | 24 | Landon Donovan | M | 1 | 2003 | SJ | 24 | Joe Cannon | GK | 1 | 2004 | COL | 24 | Kerry Zavagnin | M | 1 | 2004 | KC | 24 | Amado Guevara | M | 1 | 2004 | MET | 24 | Eddie Gaven | M | 1 | 2004 | MET | 24 | Brian Ching | F | 1 | 2004 | SJ | 24 | Danny Califf | D | 1 | 2005 | SJ | 24 | Tyrone Marshall | D | 1 | 2005 | LA | 24 | Clint Dempsey | M | 1 | 2005 | NE | 24 | Dwayne DeRosario | M | 1 | 2005 | SJ | 24 | Christian Gomez | M | 1 | 2005 | DC | 24 | Shalrie Joseph | M | 1 | 2005 | NE |
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