H A L L   O F   F A M E   C A N D I D A T E S

Bob Friend
 Starting Pitcher, Boston Beacons, Chicago Colts, Cleveland Barons, Brooklyn Superbas · 1951-1973

Bob Friend is nicknamed the "Warrior" and never was a nickname more apt.  Some years he was absolutely dominant including three 20 win seasons, and five seasons with more than 285 strikeouts.  He made the all UL team in 1961 with an astonishing 23-12 record with a 3.00 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and his trademark massive workload with high strikeouts.  In this case a ridiculous 347 innings of work where he averaged a strikeout per inning.  Then, in the twilight of his career, after the age of 40 when most of his peers from the inaugural draft class of '51 had long since gone on to the broadcast booth or the golf course, Bob turned back the clock with an All Star season.

Friend’s best years were amazing, but his hallmark was consistency and work load.  He took the ball often enough to win 270 games despite back injuries that cost him an entire season (1962) when he was in his absolute prime, wedged between a 23 and 24 win campaign and a labrum tear in 1970, which together probably kept him from reaching the sacred 300 win plateau.  It certainly prevented his easily reaching the 4000 strikeout mark.  Vida Blue led the league in 1974 with 263 innings; the Warrior surpassed that nine times.  Fittingly, he closed his stellar career with the one thing that had eluded him: a UL championship with the Colts.

Presented for your Hall-of-Fame consideration longtime Federals ace, and a guy who won everywhere he went, Bob Friend.  (Fully Fry)

AWARDS & ACCOLADES
All-UL Team (1961)
Strikeout Champion (1958, 1969)

Career Pitching Stats
Year/Team Age G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER HR BB K CG SHO WHIP
1951 Boston 19 26 13 9 2 0 4.36 99.0 109 56 48 0 38 44 4 0 1.48
1952 Boston 20 26 5 3 4 0 6.83 56.2 67 45 43 0 24 20 3 0 1.61
1953 Boston 21 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
1954 Boston 22 27 1 2 1 0 4.15 39.0 45 22 18 0 9 21 1 0 1.38
1955 Boston 23 27 27 14 8 0 3.52 212.1 210 93 83 0 35 220 6 1 1.15
1956 Boston 24 37 37 15 16 0 5.05 274.1 311 162 154 0 55 346 9 1 1.33
1957 Boston 25 25 25 14 9 0 3.31 195.2 167 80 72 0 53 136 7 1 1.12
1958 Boston 26 42 42 15 17 0 4.48 311.1 312 171 155 0 111 215 8 0 1.36
1959 Boston 27 43 43 14 22 0 4.16 328.2 310 172 152 52 106 217 15 2 1.27
1960 Boston 28 39 37 11 23 1 4.59 286.1 262 161 146 51 85 236 18 0 1.21
1961 Boston 29 43 43 23 12 0 3.00 347.2 269 134 116 45 112 347 15 2 1.10
1962 Boston 30 1 1 0 0 0 1.80 5.0 3 1 1 1 1 5 0 0 0.80
1963 Boston 31 45 45 24 12 0 4.50 324.0 328 178 162 58 106 286 9 1 1.34
     1964 Boston 32 24 24 10 11 0 4.63 173.0 170 94 89 32 65 173 5 2 1.36
     1964 Chicago 32 14 14 7 5 0 3.57 108.1 78 44 43 15 37 112 4 1 1.06
1964 Total 32 38 38 17 16 0 4.22 281.1 248 138 132 47 102 285 9 3 1.24
     1965 Chicago 33 13 13 5 6 0 3.50 97.2 101 46 38 5 35 72 2 0 1.39
     1965 Cleveland 33 22 22 12 8 0 3.68 171.1 155 76 70 24 55 146 9 1 1.23
1965 Total 33 35 35 17 14 0 3.61 269.0 256 122 108 29 90 218 11 1 1.29
1966 Cleveland 34 41 41 22 14 0 3.88 306.0 274 144 132 50 124 289 7 1 1.30
1967 Cleveland 35 36 20 10 10 3 4.81 162.2 148 90 87 28 59 160 7 1 1.27
     1968 Cleveland 36 21 11 6 4 2 3.08 96.1 74 34 33 11 44 79 3 0 1.22
     1968 Brooklyn 36 7 7 2 4 0 6.75 41.1 52 31 31 11 18 36 1 0 1.69
1968 Total 36 28 18 8 8 2 4.18 137.2 126 65 64 22 62 115 4 0 1.37
1969 Brooklyn 37 31 31 16 10 0 3.51 238.1 243 105 93 28 68 237 9 2 1.30
1970 Brooklyn 38 13 13 5 6 0 3.75 96.0 88 46 40 5 30 87 3 0 1.23
1971 Chicago 39 23 23 11 6 0 3.75 165.2 127 70 69 26 58 143 7 1 1.12
1972 Chicago 40 30 30 15 8 0 3.04 210.1 176 81 71 25 59 184 6 1 1.12
1973 Chicago 41 29 15 6 7 1 3.69 126.2 107 60 52 21 54 111 2 1 1.27
Total UL 686 583 271 225 7 4.02 4474.0 4186 2196 1998 488 1441 3922 160 19 1.26