Living on the Black

Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember

Summer. Baseball. They ultimate American duo. On that premise, I've read at least one baseball book each summer for the past few years.

This summer I chose John Feinstein's "Living on the Black." The book's premise is simple enough: follow two pitchers, day-by-day, through a full baseball season in order to document life as a Major League pitcher. It chronicles the emotional and physical roller coaster that is the grueling 162 game baseball season, as told through the lens of Tom Glavine of the New York Mets and Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees.

To sweeten the narrative, as the 2007 season begins, both pitchers are on the cusp of major moments in their career. Tom Glavine is rapidly approaching 300 wins - one of the most elite records in baseball. Mike Mussina is nearing 250 wins - the mark of a great pitcher.

The book is good, if incredibly uneven. There are some very interesting parts, but also some incredibly tedious parts. For every moment that explains exactly what a pitcher does in a "bullpen session," (interesting), there are also several pages explaining what a pitcher eats for breakfast during spring training (boring).

Considering how much information is included in the book, it was surprising how many things were conspicuously missing. Too often, the pitchers feelings were reduced to the types bland platitudes found in the sports sections - devoid of any meaning or content. Aside from a few points, the book failed to provide much insight into any of the pitchers' relationships, whether between family or teammates. Much of the book was consumed by inning-by-inning (in some cases, pitch-by-pitch) accounts of each pitcher's starts.

Ultimately, reading "Living on the Black" reminded me of panning for gold: There were a few pieces of gold, but you've got to sift through the sludge to find it.