Bookshelf
| Living on the Black, John Feinstein |
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Living on the Black, by John Feinstein **** Previous readers of my reviews know how much I like Feinstein. He and Rick Reilly are two of the most consistent sportwriters in the past twenty years and Feinstein doesn't dissappoint in this latest "season-long study" of baseball. Here, Feinstein takes you inside the minds of two of the best major league pitchers of the last two decades, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina. Admittedly, I've always liked both of these guys as they seem to be smart and engaging as well as great at what they do. The book made me like them even more. Arguably two of the more intelligent professional athletes in America, Glavine and Mussina are also unique studies in that they are wily veterans nearing the end of their careers. Minor leagues, check. 15 game winners in the bigs? Check. Labor strife? Check. World Series winners. Etc,etc. They have been everywhere, done everything and been on the T-shirt. Which only makes it more interesting when they explain, down to the smallest detail of a single pitch, what just happened to them in a ball game. They have just an amazing insight into baseball and the art of pitching. I bought this book with the intention of only reading it as I was watching ball games through the summer (MLB extra innings package). Well it only took me half the summer, but it's still a pretty long, and enjoyable, read. Though filled with tidbits that satisfy the hard-core baseball fan, anyone can enjoy this book (as all of Feinstien's work), and you don't have to actually be watching a ball game. Since I always give Feinstein great reviews, I thought I might point out a couple of negatives about this particular effort (though none of them have anything to do with the writing): 1. Glavine and Mussina play for the Mets and the Yankees -- the two sports teams that I least like. The fact that the Mets blew a 7 game divisional lead with 17 to play and the Yankees got knocked out of the playoffs by Cleveland in the first round makes it only tolerable to read this subject material. 2. Jose Reyes gets mentioned repeatedly. I just can't stand him. Or Clemons. Or Giambi. 3. Pitchers are whiners. I think it's just inherent in the position but even two hall-of-famers like Mussina and Glavine bitch and moan constantly about the heat, cold, the batters, the catchers, the defense, the manager, the pitching coach and, most of all, the umpires. Just like NBA players have never committed a foul, no pitcher in the majors has ever missed the strike zone. 4. As much as I like Glavine and Mussina, Feinstein admitted to George Plaster that had those two pitchers said "no" to the book, his next choices were John Smoltz and Greg Maddux. Just me talkin', but I think the lifetime Brave and two-time Cub would have made wonderful subjects and been a heck of a lot funnier. All that being said, Feinstein+baseball+Glavine+summer+Mussina = a great read.
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 September 2008 10:56 |