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Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember Hardcover – May 1, 2008
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length544 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLittle, Brown and Company
- Publication dateMay 1, 2008
- Dimensions6.75 x 1.75 x 9.75 inches
- ISBN-100316113913
- ISBN-13978-0316113915
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Review
"When Feinstein gets [Glavine and Mussina] talking about the art of pitching, the book comes alive." (New York Daily News David Hinckley)
"An absorbing read. Feinstein takes a pair of opinionated veterans and picks their brains all season about the art of pitching, also relying on the thoughts of teammates, coaches, managers and families to present well-rounded, intimate portraits....What makes the book so engaging is that each pitcher faced adversity during the season, creating unexpected drama that helped give an edge to Feinstein's narrative.....another excellent story, told by one of sports' best storytellers." (Tampa Tribune Bob D?Angelo)
"Strong on human drama-both players come across as noble, bloodied warriors...Feinstein captures [Mussina and Glavine] artfully." (Washington Post Book World Allen Barra)
"Feinstein achieves a double play fans should savor for its scrupulous look at what life is like for the 21st-century major leaguer." (Christian Science Monitor Erik Spanberg)
"This one's about the pitchers Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina, but it is really about the art of pitching and the poetry of baseball. Which is the whole point. Really good sports writing--and no, that's not an oxymoron, like "military music." (Bloomberg.com David M. Shribman)
About the Author
John Feinstein is the bestselling author of Let Me Tell You a Story, Caddy for Life, Open, The Punch, The Last Amateurs, The Majors, A Good Walk Spoiled, A Civil War, A Season on the Brink, Play Ball, Hard Courts, and two novels. He writes for Inside Sports, Golf, Tennis Magazine and Basketball America and commentates on NPR and CBS.
From The Washington Post
The title of John Feinstein's Living on the Black refers to the area on the outer edges of the strike zone where veteran pitchers whose fast ones have slowed to under 90 mph must consistently place the ball. The term also reflects the precarious situation that the New York Yankees' right-hander Mike Mussina and former New York Mets left-hander Tom Glavine were in at the start of the 2007 season.
Mussina and Glavine, then 38 and 41 respectively, were struggling to hold on to their jobs and keep batters off balance with a guile accumulated during a total of 36 years in the majors. Both men made it, but just barely; their personal milestones -- Glavine passed the 300 mark in total victories, and Mussina reached number 250 -- were overshadowed by their teams' dismal finishes.
The Yankees did their usual postseason fold while the Mets, leading their division by seven games with 17 left to play, crashed and burned in one of the greatest collapses in baseball history. Glavine took the season-ending loss, failing to last through the first inning. One of the game's most articulate players, he was philosophical when asked if he was devastated. "To me, devastating is finding out that a neighbor's eight-year-old is going to lose a leg to cancer." Less philosophical Mets fans were, well, devastated.
A columnist for The Washington Post and author of 22 previous books, John Feinstein must have known that as a writer he was living on the black himself by picking two aging pitchers for his subject. The resulting book is strong on human drama -- both players come across as noble, bloodied warriors -- but extremely short on baseball drama. Like Mussina and Glavine over the last couple of seasons, Living on the Black starts out strong and begins to run out of steam about halfway through. Yankee and Mets fans know how it all comes out, and baseball fans who don't like these two teams may not care.
Feinstein tries to pump up the narrative by reminding us that "they are two of the best pitchers of all time. And they aren't quite done yet." That's debatable, but even if it were true, it's been so long since either pitcher was at his peak that many may have forgotten. That Feinstein captures them artfully in their decline only serves to make their story painful to read. Living on the Black has a hard time living up to its subtitle: for Mussina and Glavine as well as for Yankees and Mets fans, the season was really one to forget.
Copyright 2008, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
Product details
- Publisher : Little, Brown and Company (May 1, 2008)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 544 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0316113913
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316113915
- Item Weight : 1.8 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.75 x 1.75 x 9.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,029,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,175 in Baseball (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
John Feinstein spent years on the staff at the Washington Post, as well as writing for Sports Illustrated and the National Sports Daily. He is a commentator on NPRs "Morning Edition," a regular on ESPNs "The Sports Reporters" and a visiting professor of journalism at Duke University.His first book, A Season on the Brink, is the bestselling sports book of all time. His first book for younger readers, Last Shot, was a bestseller.
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• They’re like scientists out there. They don’t beat you with their arms so much as they beat you with their minds.—Jim Leyland
• What you don’t want is white on white. You have to be around the black.—Tom Glavine
• You were good yesterday, kid. I’m glad you aren’t taking it for granted, though, and you’re out here working.—Dwight “Dewey” Evans to Mike Mussina
• One of the hardest things to learn in baseball is how not to try too hard. That’s why the saying ‘Try easier’ exists. There are some situations where Rod needs to try easier. You can almost see him squeezing the sawdust out of the bat at certain moments.—Mike Mussina
• Ninety percent of this game is mental, and the other half is physical.—Yogi Berra
One small quibble has to do with John Sterling’s trademark phrase. The author writes it as “the Yankees winnnnnn” but it is more like “thuuuh Yankees win”. Highly recommended.
Glavine posts a 13-8 record for the Mets while registering his 300th career win. The Mets choke down the stretch, blowing a 7-game lead with 16 to play. Mussina goes 11-6 for the Yankees, who capture the wild card and lose to the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the playoffs.
Although I'm sure author John Feinstein would have preferred for the Mets and Yankees to have met in the World Series, or at least advanced farther in the playoffs, the book still delivers.
Feinstein devotes the first 125 pages to the careers of Glavine and Mussina prior to the 2007 season. I found that part of the book more interesting than I would have thought, particularly since I was fairly familiar with the careers of both players.
Feinstein's discussion of spring training pitching philosophy and workout routines is the best I've read.
Glavine and Mussina share a number of traits: They're intellectual, physically talented, reliable, push themselves to keep improving and constantly make adjustments.
Living on the Black gives readers a better appreciation of pitching and its challenges. You will better understand a pitcher's psyche, frustrations and ups and downs. The value each pitcher puts on his family also comes through strongly.
As Glavine pursues his 300th career win, Mussina attempts to deal with being dropped from the Yankees rotation after not missing a start in 498 turns.
Feinstein is as smooth a writer as Glavine and Mussina are pitchers. Despite its 500-plus pages, the book never lags. And, you don't have to be a Mets or Yankees fan to enjoy this book.
Other than those things, this book was fantastic, giving timely insight into what goes on in the pitchers' minds throughout the season. I highly recommend it for any fan of Moose, Glavine, the Mets or Yanks, or any baseball fan in general.
Top reviews from other countries
My only failing is that none of his books i have read compare to the first reading of 'a good walk spolied', and i keep trying to find one.
a good read, not his best, but bertainly adequate of the genre