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May 18, 1960: The Dodgers sent Carl Furillo, one of the Boys of Summer from Brooklyn, packing. An unhappy Furillo was given his release and the Dodgers recalled Frank Howard from the minors. Furillo, a career .299 hitter who had been with the Dodgers since 1946, had been hurt. He felt the decision was unfair. "I think we're going to the commissioner about it," he told The Times' Paul Zimmerman. "We have to go for youth in a situation like this," said the Dodgers' general manager, Buzzie Bavasi. "Carl knows you can't keep a man on forever. … The players told me he would create a stink when he went out—and they were right." Furillo wasn't just some old hero from Brooklyn. He played a key role in the Dodgers' World Series victory in 1959 and in the playoff against the Milwaukee Braves. –Keith Thursby |
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ladailymirror.com 
Little did Bavasi and Walter O’Malley know that Furillo had his own code of ethics, that did not include giving an injured player his release. Ultimately he would make this a legal matter, and would prevail, setting the pace for Curt Flood’s 1971 challenge to the reserve clause.
Surprisingly, Furillo prevailed, winning a modest sum in an out-of-court settlement. But his commitment to principal marked the beginning of a shift in power from owners to players (plus their agents and attorneys).
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