Friend Passes

Former pitcher Bob Friend died on Sunday:

Bob Friend, who pitched more innings than anyone else in Pittsburgh Pirates history, died Sunday. He was 88.

The Pirates said Friend died at his home in Pittsburgh.

Friend holds Pirates record for innings (3,480 1/3), starts (477) and strikeouts (1,682). The right-hander was an NL All-Star in three seasons

ESPN.com

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Friend pitched in a era without many strikeouts. There were a high number of walks at the time, and Friend excelled at preventing those, allowing just 2.2 BB per nine innings during his career. He posted WARs over five in five seasons. From 1955 to 1957 he pitched 791 2/3 innings with a 3.27 ERA. He was just one game over .500, as the Pirates were at .400 team at that time.

from baseballmusings.com http://bit.ly/2S9mrXx