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| Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember | 
 enlarge | Author: John Feinstein
Creator: Mel Foster
Publisher: Tantor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $21.77
You Save: $18.22 (46%)
New (17) Used (7) from $21.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 867364
Format: Audiobook, Cd
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 15
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 5.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 1400107490
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9781400107490
ASIN: 1400107490
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new and sealed!
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| Also Available In:
| • | Paperback - Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember | | • | Hardcover - Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember | | • | Audio Download - Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember (Unabridged) | | • | MP3 CD - Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember | | • | Kindle Edition - Living on the Black | | • | Audio CD - Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember |
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Very Disappointing April 30, 2008
27 out of 40 found this review helpful
A terrible book - one of Feinstein's worst. Limited insight - no real analysis. Basically just a game by game rehashing of the season with no new information for a fan that follows baseball and the Mets and Yankees, specifically. Mr. Feinstein presented nothing beyond what already exists in boxscores and game recaps. Its almost as if he spent a year following Mussina and Glavine and then he realized that there really wasnt an interesting book in their respective seasons; but, after spending all that time, he needed to produce something. In addition to the subpar effort from Mr. Feinstein, there were too many typos to count.
99% perfect April 23, 2008
22 out of 30 found this review helpful
This was an excellent book, with the notable exception of a few errors - typos on last names, mistaking the Trenton Thunder as the AAA Yankees affiliate (it's the AA team), and biggest of all, stating that the Mets and Nationals (it was the Phils) were in a first place tie on the last day of the season.
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.
Not for the Casual Fan May 27, 2008
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Sports writers tend to specialize in one sport or another, but John Feinstein writes about different sports, and does every one equally well. However, his latest book, Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember, is definitely for readers who are more than just casual baseball fans. It's for those readers who are passionate enough to want to read about the 2007 season, following each pitch made by Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina. I'm one of those baseball fanatics.
When Feinstein picked Tom Glavine of the New York Mets and Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees, he selected two experienced pitchers who were very different. He knew if one was injured during the year, he still had another pitcher to follow. Glavine, a lefty, who never went to college, is a future Hall of Famer who spent his career in the National League. Mike Mussina, a righty, went to Stanford, and pitches in the American League. By selecting these two men, Feinstein could also examine the culture of the two New York baseball teams.
Feinstein sets the scene for his book by telling about the careers for these two masterful pitchers. Since Glavine and Mussina both cooperated with the author, it makes for a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the lives and careers of the two players. And, then 2007 proved to be an interesting year. Tom Glavine went for his 300th win, and the Mets went down to the wire in their Division. Mike Mussina struggled to find his pitches after spending time on the Disabled List, and the Yankees' woes jeopardized Joe Torre's career. Feinstein's writing is so good that even those of us who remember how 2007 turned out are left hanging on every pitch.
John Feinstein's Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember is one book for baseball fans to savor, and remember.
 Very insightful June 17, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Reading the sports section of the newspaper will give you the results of yesterday's games. There will be some in-depth articles on how the home team fared, and there may even occasionally be a human-interest story on a particular athlete. But to truly understand how a professional athlete thinks or feels, to comprehend the psychology of the game, and to know what separates them from the talented high school or college star - you have to read a sports book.
John Feinstein has made a career following teams and athletes in various sports through a typical season, so that the reader can experience vicariously the life of a professional athlete. In Living on the Black, he follows two great pitchers in the twilight of their careers as they both play in the media-crazy hothouse of New York, albeit for different teams.
In this insightful book, Feinstein follows Tom Glavine of the New York Mets as he struggles to reach 300 wins, which all but ensures his eventual election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Simultaneously, the author traces the key events in the 2007 season of Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees as he approaches 250 career wins, a stellar accomplishment for any pitcher. These men struggle with injuries-physical and psychological, as they deal with both personal and team expectations.
The book is appropriately titled Living on the Black. The black refers to the inside and outside edges of the plate where control or finesse pitchers must throw to be successful in this most demanding game. Glavine had always been a control, rather than a power pitcher, and Messina having been forced to become one due to age and the decreasing speed of his once dominant fastball.
Although these two share many common experiences of having had a highly successful and lengthy career in baseball, they come from decidedly different backgrounds and exhibit very different personalities. What they do share in common is a strong belief in themselves and their ability to constantly fine-tune their mechanics, as well as their thought processes, which allows them to stay at the top of their game.
John Feinstein is an American sportswriter and commentator. He is a columnist for the Washington Post, an author, is a guest commentator on NPR.
Armchair Interviews says: You can learn how players stay at the top of their game with this up-close-and-personal story.
An interesting and insightful look at two pitching greats July 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Living on the Black is an interesting and insightful look at Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina, two of the game's greatest pitchers, during the 2007 season. Both pitchers experience frustrating seasons.
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.
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