1963 Topps #450 Bob Friend
About Bob Friend
Card #450 catches Friend after his 1962 rebound: 18-14 with a 3.06 ERA, a league-leading five shutouts and 261.2 innings across 36 starts. It was the last 18-win season of his career. Topps put the card in the set's sixth series, where it carries a semi-high designation, and it is his only appearance in the 1963 set - no leaders card, no All-Star panel.
Robert Bartmess Friend was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and grew up in West Lafayette, an all-state pitcher and all-state football halfback in high school. The nickname came out of the football: he was a good tailback, and once he began piling up innings in the majors, "Warrior" stuck. He signed with Pittsburgh in 1950 and spent 15 of his 16 big-league seasons there, closing out with the Yankees and Mets in 1966. Friend led the National League with a 2.83 ERA in 1955, the first pitcher to win an ERA title for a last-place club, and tied Warren Spahn for the league lead with 22 wins in 1958, finishing third in the Cy Young voting. A four-time All-Star (1956, 1958 and both 1960 games), he won the 1956 All-Star Game. Durability was the trademark: 200-plus innings in eleven straight seasons, three years leading the league in games started, and not one day on the disabled list. He finished 197-230 with a 3.58 ERA and 1,734 strikeouts, the only pitcher to lose more than 200 games without winning 200, and he still holds the Pirates' career records for innings pitched and strikeouts. He was Allegheny County controller from 1967 to 1975 and was elected to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Pirates Hall of Fame in 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 394 | 2 | 56 | 181 | 98 | 41 | 12 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 31 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here.
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Related cards
Team card: #151 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #18 Buc Blasters
- #34 Dick Schofield
- #55 Bill Virdon
- #87 Bob Veale
- #101 Joe Gibbon
- #122 Julio Gotay
- #159 Jim Pagliaroni
- #169 1963 Rookie Stars
- #184 Vern Law
- #215 Bob Skinner
- #228 1963 Rookie Stars
- #239 Harvey Haddix
- #259 Johnny Logan
- #281 Tom Sturdivant
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #450 card?
It is card #450 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Friend of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Why is #450 harder to find?
It is a semi-high card from the sixth print series, #447-511 - the run where the set's short prints sit. Scarcer than series 1-5, easier than series 7.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-03.