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

by: John Feinstein

Published by: Little, Brown and Company

Reviewed by Paul Markowitz

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 plays stay at the top of their game with this up-close-and-personal story.