Worst Villain Makes the Hall of Fame

The Veterans Committee yesterday announced their selections of who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2008 yesterday. They elected former commissioner Bowie Kuhn, former Red Sox manager Dick Williams, oldtime Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, and manager Billy Southworth to the Hall (and curiously passed on Marvin Miller, who changed the game forever in the 1960s and 1970s as head of the players union).

And oh yes, one other man was elected. Walter O'Malley.

Or as he's still called around these parts by the old timers: Sonofabitch O'Malley.

I know the reasons he was picked. He opened Major League Baseball to the West Coast by moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958 (and the Giants to San Francisco by convincing Horace Stoneham to go). He took an enormous chance by doing this, and it made the Dodgers one of the richest teams in the game. They won four World Series with him as owner. I'm sure all of his defenders will point to those reasons why he merited inclusion at Cooperstown.

As many of you know, I am descended from a long line of Brooklyn Dodgers fans. My dad my have put it best many years ago for all Dodgers fans here when he once said, "If I had a dog, I'd take him to O'Malley's grave and have him piss on it."

For many here, the hurt is still strong, and will never go away, even 50 years later.

O'Malley will never be forgotten in these parts, and of course, never be forgiven. The hurt he caused in Brooklyn was immeasurable, and the loss of Brooklyn's beloved team was a huge part of the borough's rapid decline. I won't rehash it here, but many feel he's been unduly vilified in the whole sordid affair of the Dodgers' departure, and the City of New York, especially city planner Robert Moses, haven't gotten enough of the blame.

There's plenty of blame on all sides, and O'Malley deserves his share of it.

Baseball will now put him in the Hall of Fame next summer. He has an impressive resume as an owner, and for most of baseball, it is good enough to merit him going in. (Although I've heard stories about him from some reliable sources that might make some people think twice.) And another shame is that Gil Hodges, who will be an honorable and beloved man in the borough of Brooklyn forever, is still on the outside looking in as far as the Hall of Fame goes.

But I think a famous story between two New York writers might be the appropriate way to conclude this post.

One night, Pete Hamill and the late Jack Newfield were having dinner, and the conversation turned to the most evil men of the 20th Century. They each took a piece of paper and wrote down the three worst villains of the century. And sure enough, they wrote down the same three names, in the same order.

Adolf Hitler. Josef Stalin.

And Walter O'Malley.

Pete Hamill also wrote a great article about O'Malley's election in today's Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2007/12/04/2007-12-04_baseball_hall_of_fame_opens_doors_for_fo.html