To Absent Friends - Bob Friend

Bob Friend

1930-2019

Bob Friend died peacefully in his sleep yesterday at the age of 88, and it can truly be stated that he was and remains one of the Pirates all-time greats.  A career record of 197-230, 3.58 (191-218, 3.55 in 15 seasons with the Bucs) might tell you otherwise, but if you were around and followed the Pirates and watched Bob Friend pitch, you know otherwise.

It is well known that for the first seven years of his career, the Pirates teams for whom he pitched were one of the worst, and sometimes THE worst, teams in baseball.  Friend went out every fourth day for this teams.  In three of those years, he led the league in starts and in one of them he led in ERA.  He won 22 games for the Pirates in 1958, and was a key starter for the 1960 pennant winning Pirates, winning 18 games with a 3.00 ERA.  Vernon Law won twenty games that year and the Cy Young Award, but if you asked around the NL, I'm guessing that opposing teams would have told you that Friend was the better pitcher.  He was a four time All-Star, and the winning pitcher in two of those games.  He had 163 complete games in his career.  He is still the Pirates all time leader in starts, innings pitched, strikeouts, and losses.  That last stat may not be something to celebrate, but it is a testimony to Friend's durability.  He was the Pirates opening day pitcher seven times, and never spent a day on the disabled list in his sixteen year career.  

While this can't be quantified, I also remember my Dad always saying that it seemed that whenever Friend pitched, he always went up against the other teams best pitcher - Warren Spahn, Robin Roberts, Juan Marichal, you get the idea.  He also is noted for giving up the first big league hit to eventual all-time hits leader Pete Rose, and I am guessing that Rose would be the first one to tell you just how good Bob Friend was.  Undoubtedly, had Friend pitched for teams early in his career that were even halfway decent, he probably would have had in the neighborhood of 250 wins and would have been a borderline Hall of Fame candidate.

I can remember at one point in the mid-1990's, I was representing Blue Cross and playing in some charity golf outing or another.  As I was getting changed in a near empty locker room, I looked over and who do I see getting ready to play but Robert Bartmess Friend, old #19 himself.  I walked over and introduced myself to him, and probably made some silly fanboy remark.  He couldn't have been nicer.  A real gentleman.  It was the type of encounter that Friend had probably endured thousands of times over the course of his life, but he made me feel like I was the first person who ever said anything like that to him.  It was a special moment for me.

RIP Bob Friend.