Paulo's Book Club: "Living On The Black"

"Living on the Black" by John Feinstein is the finest book I have ever read about the art of pitching.



"Living on the Black" chronicles the 2007 season through the eyes of veteran pitchers Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina. While the two separate storylines sometimes make it confusing to remember who you're reading about, Feinstein enlisted two pitchers for his work because in case one got injured, or had an uninteresting season he had the other as insurance.

And that decision worked out fine as Mussina struggled with injury and ineffectiveness, Tom Glavine had a remarkable year, and his chase of his 300th win (the Number that Must Not Be Named) is the book's central theme.

I absolutely love this book and don't want to ruin it (although the ending ruins it for most Mets fans -- an entire chapter on that disastrous final start of the season for Glavine), but here's what you learn about Tom Glavine: every hit he ever gave up was the umpire's fault. He knew that he had to get outside pitches called as strikes so if the umpire didn't give it to him on one pitch, he'd go right back there, and if they umpire didn't see the first call as a mistake, he'd be down in the count 2-0.

Glavine and Mussina proved to be great choices for a book of this nature because they were both honest (they kind of come off as whiners) and intelligent, really giving the reader a feel for what a pitcher goes through as he pitches well, and especially when he pitches poorly.

It's that insight that makes "Living on the Black" a must-read.