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

Written by John Feinstein

Narrated by Mel Foster

Seasoned pitchers 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 the downs of losses, and the people in their lives—family, managers, pitching coaches, agents, catchers, other pitchers—Feinstein provides a true insider's look at the pressure cooker of sports at the highest level.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 2, 2008
• ISBN: 9781400177493

John Feinstein

John Feinstein was a sports writer and bestselling author of more than forty books, including A Season on the Brink, A Good Walk Spoiled, The Ancient Eight, and Five Banners: Inside the Duke Dynasty. He was a longtime columnist for The Washington Post, Golf Digest, and was a frequent contributor to a variety of radio programs. 

Reviews for Living on the Black

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is an account of the lives of two major league pitchers, one for the Yankees and one for the Mets during the entire 2007 season, from off-season work to spring training and real baseball.

Before we get to 2007 John Feinstein gives us a history of their lives leading up to this year.

Even though I am a big baseball and Yankee fan I didn’t quite love this book. At one point I remembered how 2007 ended and almost quit. It is incredibly detailed, at time too detailed which tended to make it drag at points. It was an almost game by game narrative, which makes it good that he was writing about pitchers who don’t play every game. The book also contains thoughts and observations from team mates and friends and family members. A very fascinating account of life in the major leagues that I feel could have been shorter than it was.

Still if you are a baseball fan I would recommend it.

[ehines_20 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a long season, the baseball cliche goes, and this is a correspondingly long book.

IMO it could have been about 100 pages shorter, but it does hold interest. And Feinstein has an excellent sense of what behind-the-scenes info we really want to know about athletes and their trade.

[phyllis01_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Feinstein delves into major league pitching and pitchers. Nobody gets to the heart and meat of a sport like he does.