Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember

by John Feinstein

Overview

Pitchers are the heart of baseball, and John Feinstein tells the story of the game today through one season and two great pitchers working in the crucible of the New York media market. Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina have seen it all in the Major Leagues and both entered 2007 in search of individual milestones and one more shot at The World Series-Glavine with the Mets, Mussina five miles away with the Yankees. The two veterans experience very different seasons—one on a team dealing with the pressure to get to a World Series for the first time in seven years, the other with a team expected to be there every year. Taking the reader through contract negotiations, spring training, the ups of wins and losses, and the people in their lives-family, managers, pitching coaches, agents, catchers, other pitchers—John Feinstein provides a true insider's look at the pressure cooker of sports at the highest level.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316027625
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	05/01/2008
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	800
Sales rank:	910,125
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.80(d)

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.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The main narrative...is compelling, but the true enjoyment of books like these are in the details, and Feinstein does not disappoint.... This smart season tour makes a treat for both casual and die-had fans." —-Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Editorial Reviews

Good pitchers avoid the heart of the plate; great pitchers "live on the black," their deliveries slicing over the black rubber borders of home plate. In this sharply executed effort, bestselling author John Feinstein tracks two top-flight veteran hurlers through the 2007 season: New York Mets left-hander Tom Glavine and Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina. A superb effort by the author The Sporting News calls "sports writing's John Grisham."

Though the season-long profile-in which a sportswriter follows a player, team or coach through a single season-grows increasingly familiar, this entry from Feinstein, one of the genre's pioneers (Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today's NFL; The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever), delivers rare insight into the minds of two of baseball's most cerebral (and successful) pitchers. Veteran sportswriter Feinstein follows the Yankees' Mike Mussina and the Mets' Tom Glavine during the 2007 season, as they pursue personal milestones and try to pitch their teams back into the postseason. Although they each reach some of their goals (Mussina to 250 wins, Glavine 300), neither team reaches its ultimate goal. The main narrative, of personal and team struggle, is compelling, but the true enjoyment of books like these are in the details, and Feinstein does not disappoint. Not only does he exhaustively chronicle the season on-field, he reveals tidbits of inside ball that even hardcore fans will find enlightening: Who knew that Mussina's best friend on the Yankees is the bullpen catcher, Mike Borzello, or that Glavine helped avert a likely player strike after the 2003 season? This smart season tour makes a treat for both casual and die-had fans.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Sportswriter Feinstein follows star pitchers Tom Glavine (Mets) and Mike Mussina (Yankees) through their 2007 seasons.

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"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." —Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune

PRAISE FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE SPORTSWRITER:

"Feinstein is the most successful sportswriter in America....He has the girt of re-creating events known to us all while infusing them with excitement, even suspense."—Jay Nordlinger, Wall Street Journal

"As always, Feinstein guides readers into a world with which fans have only surface familiarity, revealing in the process multiple substrata of nuance and meaning. Baseball fans who read this wonderful book will come away with a deeper understanding of the game in addition to having encountered a pair of fascinating men who just happen to play a game for a living."—Booklist (starred review)

PRAISE FOR LIVINGON THE BLACK:

"Feinstein achieves a double play fans should savor for its scrupulous look at what life is like for the 21st-century major leaguer."—Erik Spanberg, Christian Science Monitor

"When Feinstein gets [Glavine and Mussina] talking about the art of pitching, the book comes alive."—David Hinckley, New York Daily News

"One of the best sportswriters alive."—Larry King, USA Today

From the Publisher

"One of the best sportswriters alive."

Larry King - USA Today

"When Feinstein gets [Glavine and Mussina] talking about the art of pitching, the book comes alive."

David Hinckley - New York Daily News

PRAISE FOR LIVING ON THE BLACK:


"Feinstein achieves a double play fans should savor for its scrupulous look at what life is like for the 21st-century major leaguer."

Erik Spanberg - Christian Science Monitor

"As always, Feinstein guides readers into a world with which fans have only surface familiarity, revealing in the process multiple substrata of nuance and meaning. Baseball fans who read this wonderful book will come away with a deeper understanding of the game in addition to having encountered a pair of fascinating men who just happen to play a game for a living."

Booklist (starred review)

PRAISE FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE SPORTSWRITER:

"Feinstein is the most successful sportswriter in America....He has the girt of re-creating events known to us all while infusing them with excitement, even suspense."

Jay Nordlinger - Wall Street Journal

"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."

Bob D'Angelo - Tampa Tribune

One of the best sportswriters alive.
— USA Today

Larry King

When Feinstein gets [Glavine and Mussina] talking about the art of pitching, the book comes alive.
— New York Daily News

David Hinckley

As always, Feinstein guides readers into a world with which fans have only surface familiarity, revealing in the process multiple substrata of nuance and meaning. Baseball fans who read this wonderful book will come away with a deeper understanding of the game in addition to having encountered a pair of fascinating men who just happen to play a game for a living.

Booklist

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

If you're a baseball fan—a true fan of the game—then you've wondered: What does a pitching coach say on the mound? What exactly do bullpen catchers do? What do pitchers do in the off-season? What do umpires say? John Feinstein winds up, checks his facts, and gives us his best stuff, getting two of the game's best pitchers, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina, to open up as they go through the 2007 season. As narrator, Mel Foster does a functional job, reading with consistent, clear diction but little flair. He doesn't get in the way of the biographical, technical, and anecdotal accounts—all of which are fascinating to any fan who cares about baseball and those who play it. M.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2008 - AudioFile