Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates
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Product Description
In 1960, an upstart Pittsburgh Pirates team beat the highly privileged New York Yankees in the World Series. Agreed the power of a Yankee roster that included Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra, that improbable victory did more than give long-suffering Pirates fans something to cheer about; it place Pittsburgh on the map.
Though John Temperamental was only six years ancient during that magical baseball season, he was a devoted fan of the Pittsburgh team. The star pitcher for the Pirates and John’s first hero was Vernon Law– an unsophisticated Idaho country boy, widely known as The Deacon, a friendly nickname derived from his strict Mormon upbringing.
Law was a relatively young man at the time and should have loved several more seasons of fame and success, yet his career went into decline following that phenomenal Series. In this insightful book, John Temperamental explores a compelling mystery that has persisted now for nearly fifty years, revealing at last why Vernon Law was unable to continue his dominance of Major League batters.
But the book is more than just another expose’. Recalling a distant time in American sports, Kiss It Excellent-bye contains a universal theme: a son’s affection for his father and the bond that was forged between them because of their like of baseball. It is a book that will be welcomed by fathers, sons, and baseball fans of every age.
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While at times an entertaining and even very informative book – especially as regards the history of the city of Pittsburgh and it’s citizenry during the 1950s – it also suffers from the leader’s never-ending whining and negative perceptions of today’s kids vs. kids of the ’50’s, today’s ballplayer vs. ballplayers of the 50’s, etc.
You know the routine: kids in the 50’s had it harder and did more work than todays kids who do nothing but sit inside and play video games, baseball players roomed together unlike today’s prima donnas who room alone, today’s ballplayers are only in the headlines for all the incorrect reasons unlike all of the goody-two shoes from the 50’s (uh, maybe because reporters in the 50’s would never rat out ballplayers as there was a different mindset back then), et al. I’m not claiming that none of his complaints have merit, just that they are neverending and distract from the tale.
Now I’m the same age of the leader and also grew up in the same area, so I know whereof he speaks, but give it a rest for cripes sake. I got the point about the twentieth time. At times, it nearly seems as though the leader – who helped start Fox News – is more interested in pushing his conservative agenda to support his belief that America was a better place before we lost our values and integrity then he is in telling the tale. It is not until the second half of the book, beginning with the chapter titled ‘Inning Eight’ that the tale of the 1960 Pirates starts to take precedence over the leader’s opinion.
As for the ‘exposé’ as to why Vernon Law was never again a fantastic pitcher after the 1960 World Series – zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
This book took me back to persons hot summer days listening to the Pirates on KDKA. Excellent history of that wonderful season with a lot of insight into the players. Also very excellent local history. The only negative I establish in the book was the amount of time that John Temperamental spent talking about himself and his family tree. I bought the book to read about Vernon Law and the Pirates!
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
I received an advance copy of the book and was skeptical because I’m not a Pirates fan. But after starting the book I really got into the tale. The Pirates were one messed up baseball organization and to read about their turnaround and dramatic World Series win turned out to be really appealing.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Kiss It Excellent Bye is a fantastic tale that kept me on the edge of my seat. It was also a nice trip back to the America of the 1960’s, my boyhood years. The leader is a wonderful writer and tale teller. I knew a small about Vern Law and loved the background information about his growing up years in Idaho and how he selected the Pirates as the team to play for right out of High School. I also loved feeling the emotion the Pittsburg fans must have felt going up against the Goliath Yankees in the World Series. It had been the Dodgers against the Yankees for me. I wouldn’t have thought it possible to delight in a baseball book based on one player, one team, and for the most part one season and one game. But I did! For me it was a home run.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I read this book as an advance copy from the publisher. I’m not a huge baseball fan, but I do like the game. I generally don’t read books about baseball for that reason. I establish this one appealing because it covered the lives of two men in the same city at the same time – one a star Pirates player (Vern Law) and the additional just a fan of the game (the leader). The history of the city of Pittsburgh was kind of fun to read too. All of this happened way before my time,but I really loved it because it was so much more than just another sports book. There is a moral contained in here about doing the right thing and rising above the average. I reflect there is a larger take away then just another recounting of a very legendary game a long time ago. Overall, very enjoyable!
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5