Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960… (edition 2010)

I enjoyed reading this book as it relates the life in baseball of the only Mormon playing baseball in 1960, Vernon Law of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were the Cinderella team that year by beating the notorious New York Yankees in the World Series.

The author, a long-time fan of Law's talks of how the Pirates were of ultimate importance to him as a six-year old boy living in Pittsburgh. Other readers have discounted the author's detours into his personal life as a fan of Law and the Pirates. But I really related since the other is roughly one month older than me. I paints a great picture of what baseball meant to us Baby Boomers in the 50s and 60s. I too, as a Mormon, was excited to see Vernon Law on the mound the few chances we got to see a Pirates game on TV in California. In those days before 24/7 sports channels and cable TV, we were lucky to see the Game of the Week on TV. Growing up a San Francisco Giants fan, I always hoped to see the Pirates on TV with the hopes that Law would be pitching that day.

In the last chapter of the book, the author has members of the 1960 World Series winning Pittsburgh Pirates share short recollections of that season. Several of them state that they aren't mad that today's players are negotiating multi-million dollar contracts. One player said me got just a little over $6,000 bonus for being a member of the World Series winning team that year. Many of these same players argue that many of today's players wouldn't have been playing major league baseball back in the 50s and 60s since there were only twelve teams then. With three times as many teams today, many of today's players would only be able to play minor league baseball during the 50s and 60s.

If you enjoy the Golden Age of baseball, if you enjoy learning about a true gentleman and a hero, with you enjoy a Cinderella story, then this book is for you. ( )