Most of us have probably dreamt of being a ballplayer for a day. But what if you could be a ballplayer for a whole year?
Of what if you could be two ballplayers?
Now before you think I’m nuts – this is just what John Feinstein allows you to do with his new book Living On The Black.
It’s the 2007 season, spent with Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina – chronicling their ups, downs, trials and successes.
What makes the book interesting is the contrasts that these two veterans bring to the game. Glavine, the “crafty lefthander” and Mussina, the previously hard throwing righty who learns to adjust to life without a power fastball.
While they play just five miles apart, their teams couldn’t be more different – the pressures of Mussina’s Yankees to always be in the playoffs, versus the resurgence of Glavine’s Mets who seemed to have the NL East locked up until – well, you know what happened.
At over 500 pages, the book feels a bit lengthy at times…which is a shame, because there are some really interesting and insightful parts that most any baseball fan can benefit from. If you can get through that, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Much like an updated version of Roger Angell’s A Pitcher’s Story, which chronicled David Cone, Living on the Black provides an interesting insight into the lives of two of the current game’s best pitchers.
The Baseball Book Review 