This afternoon, a few big figures in the history of New York baseball will find their ways into the Hall of Fame. Walter O’Malley, the scourge of Brooklyn, will earn his Cooperstown plaque today, and Richard Sandomir writes about the connection between O’Malley and new inductee and former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Many New Yorkers still resent O’Malley’s role in moving the Dodgers out of Brooklyn. Outside of New York, some columnists feel that Goose Gossage doesn’t deserve a place in the Hall. And Chris Lamb writes about how a racial slur in the late 1930s may have set baseball on a path toward history.

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If Bruce Sutter can do it, Goose can do it better. The former Yanks reliever was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame today. He was on 466 of 543 ballots, or 85.8 percent. Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, and Bert Blyleven were the next three. Rice came very close at 72.2 percent, just 14 votes shy.

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Rich Lederer at The Baseball Analysts makes the Hall of Fame case for Tim Raines. By the time Raines arrived in New York, he was playing out the waning days of an excellent career, but he still be up some impressive numbers in limited playing time. During his career, he was often overshadowed by Rickey Henderson and should earn a spot in the Hall.

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Over on his personal blog, RAB favorite Keith Law has tallied up 48 HOF ballots he’s received or seen. You can check out the full list over there, but of note is that Goose Gossage is sitting on 90 percent of those ballots. As expected, Donny Baseball is on but one ballot.

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