1960 Topps #437 Bob Friend
Cards #375-440 were printed on two back stocks, white and gray. White is the scarcer of the two, and the difference is the tint of the cardboard on the reverse — it is a stock variation, not a design change, so both backs read identically.
About Bob Friend
Robert Bartmess Friend, a right-hander out of West Lafayette, Indiana, signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1950 and reached the majors in 1951, going on to anchor the Bucs' rotation for fifteen seasons. Nicknamed "The Warrior" — a name earned as a hard-charging high school football tailback and carried into a pro career defined by heavy workloads — Friend never spent a day on the disabled list in 16 major-league seasons. He won the National League ERA title in 1955 at 2.83, the first pitcher to top the league in ERA while pitching for a last-place club, and led the NL in wins with a 22-14 mark in 1958, tying Warren Spahn. A four-time All-Star, Friend was the workhorse of the Pirates' pennant-winning 1960 rotation, going 18-12 with a 3.00 ERA, then started twice and relieved once in the seven-game World Series upset of the Yankees — rocked for a 13.50 ERA even as the Pirates won it all on Bill Mazeroski's walk-off homer. He retired with 197 wins, 1,734 strikeouts and 3,611 innings pitched, both franchise records. His 1960 Topps card, #437 from the Series 5 print run, exists with both white and gray-stock backs, the white variety scarcer.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 386 | 2 | 21 | 167 | 100 | 49 | 29 | 18 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-08-20. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Neither grader separates the white and gray back stocks on this card, so the counts below cover both. The Venezuelan issue, the 1960 Topps Tattoos and Bazooka are separate products and are not counted here.
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Related cards
Team card: #484 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #2 Roman Mejias
- #20 Roy Face
- #48 Hal Smith
- #49 Curt Raydon
- #55 Bill Mazeroski
- #58 Gino Cimoli
- #91 Bennie Daniels
- #104 Dick Schofield
- #113 Bob Skinner
- #115 Fork & Knuckler
- #133 Manuel Javier
- #145 Jim Umbricht
- #157 Rocky Nelson
- #209 Ron Blackburn
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1960 Topps #437 card?
It is card #437 of the 572-card 1960 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Friend.
Does #437 come with a white or a gray back?
Both. Cards #375-440 were printed on two back stocks and white is the scarcer of the two. Neither PSA nor SGC separates them in its population report, so the graded counts on this page cover both stocks together.
How many cards are in the 1960 Topps Baseball set?
572 cards, numbered 1-572, issued in seven series - the last Topps flagship printed entirely horizontally. Cards #375-440 exist on two back stocks, white and gray, which collectors chasing every printed variety count as 638 pieces of cardboard in all.
Sources: Trading Card Database, Cardboard Connection, the PSA price guide, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-08-20.