1D392D25204C0 wrote: Friend was a tremendous pitcher for the Pirates. I really believe had he pitched with New York or Brooklyn/ Los Angeles, he would be a member of the Hall of Fame...He pitched for some really bad Pirate teams in the 50's. Friend was consistently one pitcher who kept you in a game from the get go. Rest in Peace Bob....
I concur. Friend was a very good pitcher who had the misfortune to pitch on a lot of bad teams. At various times he led the league in wins, era and innings pitched. If he'd have pitched for the Yankees in that era he might have reached 300 wins for his career.
RIP Bob
I also concur. Friend was an outstanding MLB pitcher on some very bad teams and even when the Pirates became contenders, Friend was their hard luck pitcher who received little run support.
Like most young pitchers, he struggled for his first few seasons but in 1955 became the first (and I believe still the only) pitcher to win the ERA crown on a last place team. That team won only 55 games but Friend was 14-9 while being used as both a starter and reliever. In 1956 the Bucs won 66 times and Friend was 17-17 while losing 2 games in which he gave up just 2 ERs. ERA was 3.46 and he pitched 314 innings with 19 CGs and 4 shutouts. 1957 Bucs were just 62-92 but Friend was 14-18 and lost 5 games while giving up just 1 or 2 ERs. He could easily have won 19 for that bad team. ERA was 3.38 in 277 IPs.
When the Pirates improved in 1958 finishing in 2nd place, Friend and Warren Spahn led all of MLB with 22 wins. After a disappointing 1959 season, he rebounded with a typically strong year in 1960. Vern Law won the Cy Young with a 20-9 record. Friend was 18-12. Their stats were nearly identical with Friend having a slightly lower ERA and a big edge in Ks that year:
ERA: Friend 3.00, Law 3.08, hits - 266 apiece, Ks- Friend 183, Law 120. BBs; Friend 45, Law 40, CG Friend 16, Law 18. Shutouts - Friend 4, Law 3. WHIP Friend 1.128, Law 1.126.
And 4 of Friend's 12 losses that year were games in which he gave up only 2 runs. If he had received more run support, he might have had another 22 win season and taken home the Cy Young instead of Law. What propelled the 1960 Pirates was the fact that they had not 1 but 2 legit aces.
Friend had another 18 win season in 1962 and only losses of 2-0 and 2-1 prevented a 20 win season. In 1963 the Pirates fell to 74-88 but Friend was 17-16 while losing an incredible 10 games when giving up just 1 or 2 runs. Better run support could have given him 27 wins. He had the 3rd best ERA (2.34) and the 5th lowest WHIP in the NL that year. In 1964 he was 13-18 with a 3.33 ERA. His 18 losses included 6 games giving up just 2 runs, so 13-18 might have been 19-12 with better run support.
Friend was one of the premier pitchers in MLB. Unfortunately, what many fans recall is that he lost so many games, which was generally due to poor run support despite good pitching. He was a workhorse with a 10 year span of starting no fewer than 34 games and as many as 42. He was the NL ERA champion in 1955, the MLB leader in wins in 1958. He won at least 17 games 5 times despite poor run support that might otherwise have given him numerous 20-win seasons. He is often unfairly accused of pitching poorly in the 2nd game of the 1960 WS when the Bucs lost 16-3. But he was pitching effectively when pulled early for a pinch hitter in the 4th inning and then the bullpen surrendered 13 runs. But he did struggle in game 6 and when called on to face just 2 batters in the 9th in game 7.
Friend should be remembered as one of the greatest pitchers in Pirate history and one of the premier pitchers in MLB during his career.