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I have been digging a little deeper into the Balder myths - thought it might give an idea of why Gaiman should choose to name Shadow "Baldur Moon" - but I can't say it helped much.
There's two schools of interpretation:
1: The story of the death of Balder is a version of the myth of the young, male god who dies and is resurrected (an image of the turning of the seasons). The big problem with this idea is that Balder doesn't return from the dead.
2: The story is an image of warrior initiation rituals. The young warrior is given over to the lord of war, Odin. Through dying, he becomes a member of Odin's warriors. Since Ragnarok is near, having many skilled warriors on hos side is important for Odin.
Perhaps hypothesis no. 2 is a bit closer to the Shadow character, but I am still puzzled as to why Shadow has to die through the exact same process as when Odin sacrificed himself to himself rather than something that alludes to the actual death of Balder. Odd.
Another thought; the final battle that Odin and Loke plans in American Gods, is much like Ragnarok; the final battle of the gods against the forces of chaos (and the loss of the gods' and consequently the end of the world). Balder's death was one of the harbingers of Ragnarok.
Perhaps Odin is more important than we realise. Shadow dies Odin's death, and in "Monarch of the Glen", a probable Thor figure displays an important characteristic of Odin (lack of an eye).
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