Founded in 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Cooperstown, New York. There are currently 286 baseball players in the Hall, and each year, members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and the Hall's own Veterans Committee vote on future inductees.

An individual can be elected to the Hall of Fame in one of two ways. The Baseball Writer's Association considers those players who have played at least ten seasons and have been retired from the sport for at least five years. The Veterans' Committee of the Hall of Fame considers anyone whose time in baseball ended at least 21 years ago, and their voting is not restricted to players, but can include umpires, executives, and managers.

In 2008, eight individuals were inducted into the Hall of Fame: pitcher Rich "Goose" Gossage, managers Dick Williams and Billy Southworth, owners Walter O'Malley and Barney Dreyfuss, and former Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn.

On December 8, 2008, Joe Gordon was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the veteran's committee of the Hall of Fame. Other players that were considered by not selected include Gil Hodges, Ron Santo, and Joe Torre. Gordon received 10 votes from the committee. Yahoo! News: Joe Gordon is elected to baseball Hall of Fame(December 7, 2008)