Carl Furillo
| Birthdate | 3/8/1922 |
| Death Date | 1/21/1989 |
| Debut Year | 1946 |
| Year of Induction | |
| Teams | Dodgers |
| Position | Right Field |
The batting champion in 1953, Carl Furillo played in 7 Dodger World Series, 6 with Brooklyn and 1 in Los Angeles; he was a two-time champion.
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Carl Furillo played on the Dodgers' only championship team in Brooklyn & their first in LA
Carl Furillo played on the Dodgers' only championship team in Brooklyn & their first in LA
Carl Furillo played all of his 15 big league seasons for the Dodgers. He broke into the big leagues in 1946 and played the team’s final 12 seasons in New York. During that time Furillo exactly .300.
He helped the Dodgers win seven NL pennants and the 1955 and 1959 world championships. Furillo received votes in MVP balloting 8 times. The 1953 batting champ when he hit .344, Furillo was known for his strong and accurate throwing arm.
After 12 seasons in Brooklyn, Furillo moved to Los Angeles with the Dodgers. The first season in LA he hit .290 with 18 homers, 83 RBI and finished 21st in MVP voting. In 1959 he earned his second ring in the Dodgers first title in Los Angeles.
Furillo had two notable nicknames. He signed his first pro contract at age 17 and reported to the Reading, Pennsylvania minor league team. Because of his strong arm he got the nickname “The Reading Rifle”. His other nickname was “Skoonj”, which came from the word “scungilli”, Italian for his favorite dish – sea snail.
For his career, Furillo finished one hit shy of .300. He collected 1,910 hits, 1,058 RBI, and 324 doubles. In the field he posted 10 or more assists in nine consecutive seasons, and finished with 151 for his career.
In the collection is this government postcard signed by Furillo during Brooklyn’s 1955 championship season.
Furillo signed this on July 2nd of the championship 1955 season
Furillo signed this on July 2nd of the championship 1955 season
Collectors covet government postcards because they provide strong context to the signature. Shown here is the reverse of the card with Carl Furillo’s signature. Notice the postmark from Brooklyn, New York on July 2, 1955 at 11:30pm.
Earlier in the day 6,158 fans saw the Dodgers drop a heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Brooklyn certerfielder Duke Snider broke open the scoring with a two-run homer off of Pittsburgh hurler Bob Friend. After hitting a line drive single to right field, Furillo scored the final run of the inning.
Late in the game Brooklyn was comfortably ahead 6-2. Then the Pirates scored two in the 8th to cut the lead. With one out in the 9th Pittsburgh rookie Roberto Clemente recorded his 71st of his 3,000 career hits off of Don Newcombe. After a Tom Staffell walk, Dick Cole singled to center to score Clemente and put Staffell to third. Jerry Lynch’s sac fly scored Staffell to tie the game.
The Pirates pushed across a run in the top of the 10th to win the game.
Furillo’s signature is by no means rare though verified vintage examples like this one are highly sought after.
By the end of the season the Dodgers were champions of the National League. Brooklyn beat the Yankees in the World Series in seven games. It was the first and only title during the Dodgers’ time in Brooklyn.
Snubbed by the BBWAA because he sued the Dodgers in 1960 and won his lawsuit. 2 votes his first year of eligibility, 2 votes his second year, then dropped from the ballot. Also on the ballot with Furillo in his first year was Enos Slaughter, who got 100 votes from the Baseball owners lackeys in the BBWAA. Enos never won a batting title, played 19 years to Carl’s 15 and yet had only 1 more assist than Carl. Not saying Carl should be in the HOF but deserving of far more than 4 votes in 2 years.
Carl wasn’t a dirty player like Slaughter either.