The Slide: Leyland, Bonds, and the Star-Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates (The Library of Pittsburgh Sports History)

Must read for a Pirates fan

Must read for any Pirates fan. In the City of Champions the Pirates are forever forgotten. Great history and insight to the club`s history and long losing streak.

Peterson has written or been part of a couple of books about the Pittsburgh Pirates. This covers the history of the team since the World Series title in 1979. Peterson does a fine job of chronologically going through the dark times of the mid-1980s with losing baseball and the cocaine trial. He walks through the 1990-1992 division championship seasons by devoting a single chapter to each season and also devotes a chapter to the playoffs in each of those years. Of special note, he does a fine job of examining the work of manager Jim Leyland and also the importance and complexity of the outfield of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke. He wraps up the book with a chapter on the losing streak, followed by a chapter on the seasons in which Clint Hurdle has been managerTwo concerns with the book. First is that there isn't much detail about the losing streak. Much of the chapter about the period from 1993 to Hurdle's tenure is devoted to the details behind Kevin McClatchy purchasing the club and working to get PNC Park built. On-field details are lacking, as are descriptions of front office blunders in personnel decisions. Catastrophic injuries to Andy Van Slyke (1993) and Jason Kendall (1999) are mentioned but not explored. The financial related trade of Aramis Ramirez in 2003 gets no mention at all. That chapter could've easily had another 10 to 15 pages and not been too long. There is simply a lot there that Peterson did not expound on.Second problem is my pet peeve: poor fact checking. It starts early on page 4 in which Peterson writes that Bill Madlock, Tim Foli and Phil Garner were acquired in "brilliant trades in 1979." Garner was acquired in 1977, not 1979. A few pages later, Peterson details the return of Bob Prince to the Pirates broadcast booth on 5/3/85. Peterson claims that "scored nine runs in the first inning." While it's true that there was an offensive explosion, it didn't happen until the 4th inning. On page 39 Peterson declares, incorrectly, that when Willie Mays retired he was "second only to Babe Ruth in career home runs.'" Mays retired in 3rd place as Hank Aaron had already passed him in career home runs. In describing the 1991 National League Championship Series between the Pirates and the Braves, on page 92 Peterson gives credit to what turned out to be the game winning RBI double to "Dennis Menke". It was actually Mark Lemke. Menke, who was a one time Brave, had retired following the 1974 season and also spells his first name with just one 'n'. While none of these mistakes (and there are more than what I have listed) are big deals, they are all completely avoidable with competent fact checking and manuscript review. I make note of these things because for me, part of the joy of reading a book is getting wrapped up in the story and going for pages and pages with complete focus. When I read something that is factually incorrect, my mind immediately breaks from the text and that focus is disrupted.The book includes end notes, a bibliography and a full index, which a work of this nature should have.

Great pirate book well written enjoyable

While the title of "The Slide," pinpoints the miserable defining moment in the Pittsburgh Pirates' heartbreaking playoff loss to the Braves in 1992, that game and that play receive no more attention nor background than any other of the many games covered in the book. Other than Barry Bonds giving Andy Van Slyke the middle finger when Andy motioned to play in a shallower outfield position, where were explanations of the small things that led to disaster? Where was background on the plate umpire becoming ill and his replacement shrinking the strike zone to the size of a cigarette pack for the Pirate bullpen? Where was the note of Lloyd McClendon hurting his leg running the bases and his sub in bad position for Terry Pendleton's looping double inside the foul line? Why no mention that Sid Bream, the infamous "slider," might have been the slowest runner in the National League? These are key moments that go without mention. Why?

Great recount of a great but sad time for those of us "true" Pirates fans (which is truly a quickly shrinking fester by the minute group of fans) Its amazing the pain you endure over the years being anPirates fan. I'm very sorry to admit that I do not believe the Pirates will ever fully recover from the last play of 1992. We will never play in another NLCS.

Good short history of the Pirates.

Great book recapping the glory days (and heartbreak) of the early 90's