What years did Bob Friend play?

Bob Friend played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1966.

Was Bob Friend a pitcher?

Yes. Bob Friend pitched in the major leagues, recording 197 wins and 1734 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bob Friend hit?

Bob Friend hit 2 career home runs with 138 hits.

What teams did Bob Friend play for?

Bob Friend played for 3 teams: the Pittsburgh Pirates (1951–1965), the New York Yankees (1966), and the New York Mets (1966).

Did Bob Friend win a Cy Young Award?

No. Bob Friend did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Bob Friend win?

Bob Friend was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Bob Friend's career stats?

In 602 games, Bob Friend went 197-230 with a 3.58 ERA, 1,734 strikeouts, 3,611.0 innings pitched, and 11 saves. At the plate he had 138 hits and 2 home runs.

What position did Bob Friend play?

Bob Friend played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Bob Friend and how much did he weigh?

Bob Friend was listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds.

What was Bob Friend's career ERA?

Bob Friend finished with a 3.58 career ERA, going 197-230 with 1,734 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Bob Friend have?

Bob Friend recorded 1,734 career strikeouts.

Is Bob Friend in the Hall of Fame?

No. Bob Friend has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

How many All-Star Games did Bob Friend make?

Bob Friend was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

Bob Friend

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1951-1966)

Bob Friend was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1966 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets, a span of 16 seasons. Across 602 career appearances, he went 197-230 with a 3.58 ERA and 1,734 strikeouts. He also batted .121 with 2 home runs. Bob Friend was a 3-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 45735.4.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 17, 2026

W–L 197–230

ERA 3.58

WHIP 1.29

SO 1,734

Pitcher PIV 45735.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 190 lb
Born: 11/24/1930 in Lafayette, IN, USA
Died: 2/3/2019 in O'Hara Township, PA, USA
MLB Debut: 1951-04-28
Last Game: 1966-09-24
Awards: 3× All-Star

Full name: Robert Bartmess Friend

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Bob Friend — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
197	230	602	497	163	36	11	3611.0	3,772	1,438	286	894	1,734	3.58	45735.4

Career ERA 3.58 vs. league average 3.81 across their career seasons — 5.8% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Friend Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1951	PIT	NL	6	10	34	22	3	1	0	149.2	173	71	68	41	4.27	4.04 (-6%)	-1110.8
1952	PIT	NL	7	17	35	23	6	1	0	185.0	186	86	84	75	4.18	3.70 (-13%)	-1581.8
1953	PIT	NL	8	11	32	24	8	0	0	170.2	193	93	57	66	4.90	4.14 (-19%)	-453.1
1954	PIT	NL	7	12	35	20	4	2	2	170.1	204	96	58	73	5.07	3.90 (-30%)	424.3
1955	PIT	NL	14	9	44	20	9	2	2	200.1	178	63	52	98	2.83	4.00 (+29%)	3302.9
1956	PIT	NL	17	17	49	42	19	4	3	314.1	310	121	85	166	3.46	3.96 (+13%)	6606.1
1957	PIT	NL	14	18	40	38	17	3	0	277.0	273	104	68	143	3.38	3.83 (+12%)	2551.3
1958	PIT	NL	22	14	38	38	16	1	0	274.0	299	112	61	135	3.68	3.86 (+5%)	3430.3
1959	PIT	NL	8	19	35	35	7	2	0	234.2	267	105	52	104	4.03	3.90 (-3%)	2715.7
1960	PIT	NL	18	12	38	37	16	4	1	275.2	266	92	45	183	3.00	3.82 (+21%)	9342.5
1961	PIT	NL	14	19	41	35	10	1	1	236.0	271	101	45	108	3.85	4.03 (+4%)	5420.1
1962	PIT	NL	18	14	39	36	13	5	1	261.2	280	89	53	144	3.06	3.96 (+23%)	4587.6
1963	PIT	NL	17	16	39	38	12	4	0	268.2	236	70	44	144	2.34	3.46 (+32%)	6207.0
1964	PIT	NL	13	18	35	35	13	3	0	240.1	253	89	50	128	3.33	3.58 (+7%)	5207.0
1965	PIT	NL	8	12	34	34	8	2	0	222.0	221	80	47	74	3.24	3.50 (+7%)	-502.0
1966	NYA	AL	1	4	12	8	0	0	0	44.2	61	24	9	22	4.84	3.52 (-37%)	861.5
1966	NYN	NL	5	8	22	12	2	1	1	86.0	101	42	16	30	4.40	3.52 (-25%)	-1273.1
Career · 17 seasons			197	230	602	497	163	36	11	3,611.0	3,772	1,438	894	1,734	3.58	—	45,735

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Bob Friend — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
602	1,137	56	138	16	2	2	60	0	38	375	.121	.150	.144	.294	-9,531

Career AVG .121 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 52.4% below league average.

Career OBP .150 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 53.8% below league average.

Career SLG .144 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 62.7% below league average.

Career OPS .294 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — 58.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Friend Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1951	PIT	NL	34	44	1	4	2	0	0	2	2	19	.091	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	PIT	NL	35	52	2	3	0	0	0	0	2	20	.058	.252 (-77%)	.326 (-72%)	.369 (-84%)	.696 (-78%)	-632.3
1953	PIT	NL	32	52	4	7	1	0	0	1	1	16	.135	.264 (-49%)	.335 (-55%)	.397 (-61%)	.733 (-58%)	-494.9
1954	PIT	NL	35	51	6	14	1	1	1	7	5	8	.275	.261 (+5%)	.333 (+2%)	.390 (+1%)	.723 (+1%)	11.5
1955	PIT	NL	44	61	3	10	1	0	0	4	3	15	.164	.258 (-37%)	.332 (-39%)	.393 (-54%)	.726 (-47%)	-459.4
1956	PIT	NL	49	97	7	16	2	0	1	8	1	19	.165	.258 (-36%)	.331 (-48%)	.397 (-46%)	.728 (-46%)	-732.6
1957	PIT	NL	40	87	5	16	2	0	0	4	6	22	.184	.257 (-29%)	.323 (-28%)	.391 (-47%)	.715 (-38%)	-527.1
1958	PIT	NL	38	94	3	10	2	0	0	6	4	28	.106	.257 (-59%)	.324 (-56%)	.394 (-68%)	.719 (-63%)	-946.4
1959	PIT	NL	35	73	4	12	2	0	0	7	2	25	.164	.256 (-36%)	.323 (-42%)	.392 (-51%)	.715 (-47%)	-544.9
1960	PIT	NL	38	88	5	6	1	0	0	3	6	31	.068	.255 (-73%)	.323 (-61%)	.387 (-79%)	.711 (-71%)	-979.5
1961	PIT	NL	41	79	6	11	0	1	0	7	1	36	.139	.258 (-46%)	.328 (-54%)	.399 (-59%)	.727 (-57%)	-722.9
1962	PIT	NL	39	91	3	11	2	0	0	5	0	31	.121	.257 (-53%)	.326 (-63%)	.393 (-64%)	.719 (-63%)	-916.5
1963	PIT	NL	39	86	2	9	0	0	0	2	1	31	.105	.246 (-58%)	.308 (-63%)	.371 (-72%)	.680 (-68%)	-871.7
1964	PIT	NL	35	71	2	5	0	0	0	2	3	26	.070	.250 (-72%)	.312 (-65%)	.377 (-81%)	.690 (-74%)	-798.7
1965	PIT	NL	34	71	2	3	0	0	0	1	1	26	.042	.245 (-83%)	.310 (-82%)	.371 (-89%)	.682 (-86%)	-915.1
1966	NYA	AL	12	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	NYN	NL	22	29	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	17	.034	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			602	1,137	56	138	16	2	2	60	38	375	.121	—	—	—	—	-9,531

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Bob Friend — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Bob Friend — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1960	WS	PIT	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Bob Friend — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	2	3	2	0	6.0	13	9	3	7	13.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bob Friend — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1960	WS	PIT	0	2	3	2	0	6.0	13	9	3	7	13.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1204 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Bob Friend — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	305	560	30	70	0	32	.125
Away	297	577	26	68	2	28	.118

Pitching — Home / Away

Bob Friend — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	305	1900.1	1980	721	468	920	3.41
Away	297	1710.1	1790	715	425	814	3.76

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bob Friend — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	SO
1966-09-24	NYN	CIN	L	0	0	0	0
1966-09-13	NYN	LAD	L	2	0	0	1
1966-09-05	NYN	CIN	L	1	0	0	1
1966-09-04	NYN	PHI	L	0	0	0	0
1966-08-30	NYN	LAD	W	5	1	1	2
1966-08-24	NYN	CHC	L	1	0	0	1
1966-08-22	NYN	CHC	L	0	0	0	0
1966-08-19	NYN	PHI	L	0	0	0	0
1966-08-17	NYN	PIT	W	0	0	0	0
1966-08-16	NYN	PIT	L	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bob Friend — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1966-09-24	NYN	CIN	L	1.0	2	2	2	2	0	0
1966-09-13	NYN	LAD	L	4.1	9	6	5	1	1	1
1966-09-05	NYN	CIN	L	3.0	6	4	3	0	1	0
1966-09-04	NYN	PHI	—	2.0	0	0	0	2	0	0
1966-08-30	NYN	LAD	W	7.2	4	2	1	1	0	1
1966-08-24	NYN	CHC	L	0.2	3	2	2	2	0	0
1966-08-22	NYN	CHC	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	1	0
1966-08-19	NYN	PHI	L	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	1
1966-08-17	NYN	PIT	SV	3.0	1	0	0	0	2	0
1966-08-16	NYN	PIT	—	0.0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Friend — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	602	428	228	630	27	40

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Friend — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1951	PIT	P	34	0	10	29	1	1
1952	PIT	P	35	0	10	37	2	3
1953	PIT	P	32	0	7	36	3	2
1954	PIT	P	35	20	7	27	1	1
1955	PIT	P	44	20	7	50	2	6
1956	PIT	P	49	42	14	49	2	1
1957	PIT	P	40	38	18	38	1	3
1958	PIT	P	38	38	7	47	1	4
1959	PIT	P	35	35	24	37	1	2
1960	PIT	P	38	37	24	43	1	1
1961	PIT	P	41	35	19	37	3	3
1962	PIT	P	39	36	18	43	1	3
1963	PIT	P	39	38	23	41	2	2
1964	PIT	P	35	35	12	55	2	3
1965	PIT	P	34	34	21	39	1	5
1966	NYA	P	12	8	3	13	0	0
1966	NYN	P	22	12	4	9	3	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Friend Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	602

Awards & Honors

Bob Friend — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1958	TSN All-Star	P

Award Voting History

Bob Friend — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1958	Cy Young Award	ML	3rd	3.0	16	3
1958	Most Valuable Player	NL	6th	98.0	336	0
1956	Most Valuable Player	NL	12th	38.0	336	0
1955	Most Valuable Player	NL	16th	10.0	336	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Bob Friend (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Bob Friend

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

See Bob Friend in Another Era

Translate Bob Friend's peak season across eras →

Bob Friend: the record in brief

The profile opens with Bob Friend's first major league game on April 28, 1951; the last one listed came on September 24, 1966. Friend played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1951 through 1965), the New York Yankees (1966), and the New York Mets (1966). Born on November 24, 1930, in Lafayette, IN, USA, Friend is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Friend's listed size is 6'0" and 190 pounds. Friend's death is recorded on February 3, 2019, in O'Hara Township, PA, USA. Bob Friend was the playing name; the full given name is Robert Bartmess.

The pitching table credits Friend with a 197-230 record and a 3.58 ERA in 602 games. The same table counts 1,734 strikeouts, 163 complete games, 36 shutouts, and 11 saves. That 3.58 ERA compares with a 3.81 league average across the same seasons, 5.8% better. The best win total was 22, in 1958. 1960 produced Friend's most strikeouts, 183.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Friend

What years did Bob Friend play?: Bob Friend played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1966.
Was Bob Friend a pitcher?: Yes. Bob Friend pitched in the major leagues, recording 197 wins and 1734 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bob Friend hit?: Bob Friend hit 2 career home runs with 138 hits.
What teams did Bob Friend play for?: Bob Friend played for 3 teams: the Pittsburgh Pirates (1951–1965), the New York Yankees (1966), and the New York Mets (1966).
Did Bob Friend win a Cy Young Award?: No. Bob Friend did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Bob Friend win?: Bob Friend was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Bob Friend's career stats?: In 602 games, Bob Friend went 197-230 with a 3.58 ERA, 1,734 strikeouts, 3,611.0 innings pitched, and 11 saves. At the plate he had 138 hits and 2 home runs.
What position did Bob Friend play?: Bob Friend played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bob Friend and how much did he weigh?: Bob Friend was listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds.
What was Bob Friend's career ERA?: Bob Friend finished with a 3.58 career ERA, going 197-230 with 1,734 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Bob Friend have?: Bob Friend recorded 1,734 career strikeouts.
Is Bob Friend in the Hall of Fame?: No. Bob Friend has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Bob Friend make?: Bob Friend was selected to 3 All-Star Games.