Customer Reviews

Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kiss It Good Bye is a great story 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 author is a wonderful writer and story teller. I knew a little about Vern Law and enjoyed the background information about his growing up years in Idaho and how he picked 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 enjoy 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.

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 story. The Pirates were one messed up baseball organization and to read about their turnaround and dramatic World Series win turned out to be really interesting.

I read this book as an advance copy from the publisher. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I do love the game. I generally don't read books about baseball for that reason. I found this one interesting 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 other just a fan of the game (the author). 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 enjoyed 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 think there is a bigger take away then just another recounting of a very famous game a long time ago. Overall, very enjoyable!

This book took me back to those hot summer days listening to the Pirates on KDKA. Good history of that wonderful season with a lot of insight into the players. Also very good local history. The only negative I found in the book was the amount of time that John Moody spent talking about himself and his family. I bought the book to read about Vernon Law and the Pirates!

This book is an enjoyable read. Not only is the book about Vern Law, but it also tells interesting facts about the Mormon religion and the city of Pittsburgh. It explores the incident that ruined Vern Law's career. The book is s bit dry in a few places, but overall, it is a book that is hard to put down.

This book brought back the great memories of Pittsburgh and the 1960 Baseball season.I had to get my scrap book of the 60' seasen out and relive the year. A great read.

If you like baseball, you will enjoy reading this book. It is a throw-back to the genuine days of baseball. If you were a kid in the 60's this is a fun walk down memory lane. If you played baseball, especially beyond little league and high school, you will love this book. It reminds of how close a team can become and how the essence of winning is teamwork. It also portrays the behind-the-scenes life that exists grinding through 6 months of playing 6 games per week. This is a bitter-sweet story, especially knowing (for me, for the first time) what happened to Vernon Law. One year he was "Lights Out" and the next, just average, never to be great again. It's an age old story of our sports heroes. But the gem that you come away with after reading the story is how a genuinely good soul handles adversity. It was inspiring to me. The author does dwell a little too much (even to a fault) on the spoiled players of today. It took a little off the shine that otherwise this story is. Enjoy a good baseball book.

Boy was I excited when I saw this reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. A Pirate fan from 66 through about 92, I was eager to read about the storied 60 season. It did not take long for me to be disappointed. The first few chapters had more to do with the Mormon religion than the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not only that, but there was a political rather than a sporting focus. Digs at the ACLU and PETA, comments extolling physical punishment of children...the book was a hagiography of Vernon Law and his values. Not even that much about Law the pitcher, although he was more of a focus in the book than the Pirate team. I gave this Book two stars because it is well written and covers the 60 Series pretty well, I was more ready to give it zero stars after the first 100 pages. There is almost nothing written about the 60 pennant race, and nothing to speak of about the MVP, Dick Groat. Most egregious, the writer calls Clemente "arrogant" three times, and cowardly twice! He says that the book on Clemente was to brush him back and then he would bail out....unless of course Vernon Law protected him. Maybe in 60, but in the late 60's when I saw Clemente brushing him back meant the next pitch was going to be rifled off the right center field fence. Overall, I enjoyed the account of the 60 series, but felt pretty ripped off by the rest of the book.

Ths takes you back to one of the most eventful years in US history. I spent many weekend days sitting in right center field in $1.50 seats looking at Roberto Clemente and watching the Bucs work their magic.

It was a time men played baseball for the love of the game. They all had to have off- season jobs. Bill Mazeroski tended bar not too far from wher ei grew up. Compare that to what we have now. Those truly were the good old days.

I was skeptical at first, but when I read the foreword and the commentary, I was intrigued. What a great book! What a great story! I recommend it to anyone who wants to appreciate one of the best stories of what a true hero is all about. He wasn't about money, fame or ego. What brought Pittsburgh a championship was his unselfish commitment to his teammates, his family and his maker. I recommend this to anyone who wants to be a winner in life.