Friday, October 7, 2022

#221 Bob Friend - Pittsburgh Pirates


Robert Bartmess Friend
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  November 24, 1930, Lafayette, IN
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1951-1965; New York Yankees 1966; New York Mets 1966
Died:  February 3, 2019, O'Hara Township, PA (age 88)

Nicknamed "The Warrior," Bob Friend was a mainstay in the Pirates starting pitching rotation for 15 seasons, playing a key role in the team's advancement to the 1960 World Series.  Friend made the Pirates out of spring training in 1951, and he'd never return to the minor leagues.  He led the National League with a 2.83 ERA in 1955, becoming the first leader in the category to come from a last place team.  He made his first of four All-Star teams in 1956, while leading the league with 42 starts.  Playing for a second division Pirates team, he only crossed the 20-win plateau once, leading the league with 22 wins in 1958.  In 1960, Friend and Vern Law (#252) combined for one of the best two top of the rotation starters from their era, helping propel the Pirates into the World Series.  Friend struggled against the Yankees in the Series, but the Pirates prevailed in seven games thanks to Bill Mazeroski's dramatic walk-off home run.

Friend pitched with the Pirates through the 1965 season, and then played a final year with the Yankees and Mets.  He retired with a 197-230 record, a 3.58 ERA and 1,734 strikeouts in 3,611 innings pitched.  His 36 career shutouts are 63rd all-time.  He ranks high in several main pitching categories on the Pirates' all-time franchise leader board, including fourth in wins, third in games pitched, first (with 477) in games started, first in innings pitched and first in strikeouts.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set
September 25, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #265
This was a late edition to our set and one of 11 cards we purchased at the 92nd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington.  My records show we paid $6 for this card. With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington at the time or the occasional mall baseball card show.

August 14, 2005 - Dad and me at Yankee Stadium
My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location.  Our next show together was a few months later in December, also in Ft. Washington.  Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set after that December show.

The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house, so we had a pretty good excuse not to be purchasing baseball cards at the time.

The Card / Pirates Team Set
Like a lot of the cards to be found in this set's third series, this represents Friend's return to Topps after a three-year absence.  The cartoon panels on the back celebrate his 2.83 ERA title in 1955, and the one-hitter thrown against the Cubs on September 7th.  Frank Baumholtz (#274) had the only hit for the Cubs, a fourth inning single.  The final cartoon panel points out Friend made 44 appearances in 1955, with only 20 of those as starts.

1956 Season
Friend was 17-17 with a 3.46 ERA in 49 games for the Pirates, including 42 starts.  His 314 1/3 innings pitched led the league and his 19 complete games were third in the league.  (Robin Roberts - #180 - led the league with 22 complete games.)  Friend started the 1956 All-Star Game, earning the win with three scoreless innings.  He had three strikeouts in the start, including Ted Williams (#5).  Among his 19 complete games was an 11-inning shutout pitched against the Cardinals on June 8th.  Friend allowed six hits in that game, out-dueling Cardinals' starting pitcher Murry Dickson (#211), who also pitched all 11 innings.

1952 Topps #233
1955 Bowman #57
1961 Topps #270
1963 Topps #450
1966 Topps #519

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Bowman #191
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1952, 1956-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2018 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-BF

139 - Friend non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/3/22.

 Sources:  
1965 Topps Blog
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