Baseball can be a cruel game sometimes. Just ask the newest member of the Phillies — Chris Coste.
After 11 seasons in the minor leagues, the 33-year-old made his Major League debut with the Phillies during the weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers, but to understand the magnificence of that, one would have to know a little bit about his journey to Philadelphia.
Coste's career began in 1995 in the independent leagues and ventured through four other organizations before the journeyman wound up in the Philadelphia farm system last year. Coste (pronounced like "coast") played third base for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in 2005 and hit for a .292 batting average with 20 home runs and 89 RBI.
Those numbers earned him an invitation to the Phillies' big-league camp this season as a non-roster player, and the Fargo, N.D., native responded by having the hottest spring of any player in camp. Coste hit .463 with three homers and 11 RBI in 25 games in Clearwater.
When training camp broke, he was still with the Phils when the team arrived in Philadelphia on April 1 for a two-game preseason set with the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, this guy was a victim of position rather than numbers. The Phils were actively seeking a left-handed power-hitting outfielder, and when the club acquired David Dellucci from the Texas Rangers, Coste became the 26th man on the Phillies 25-man opening-day roster.
"Obviously, it was disappointing, but the trade made perfect sense (for the Phillies)," said Coste. "I knew that the trade was possible because they only had four outfielders. In most situations, I would have made the team, but at the time, I understood."
Coste had a .177 average after 39 games at SWB this season, but when Sal Fasano was injured on May 20, the Phillies needed an emergency catcher and purchased Coste's contract on May 21. He flied out in his big-league debut as a pinch hitter on Friday and got to catch a few innings on Saturday when manager Charlie Manuel was forced to make a double switch while changing pitchers.
"We lost the game (9-6), and I went 0-for-2, but it was one of the most fun games of my life," Coste said. "It was my first chance to catch (at this level), and I got some at-bats."
When the Phillies activated catcher Mike Lieberthal on Monday, Carlos Ruiz was optioned back to Scranton. Keeping Coste gives the team more versatility because he also plays third and first base. The oldest rookie to debut with the Phillies since Isidoro "Izzy" Leon, who was 34 when he played his first game in 1945, Coste provides the team with depth at three positions. And Coste's exuberance rubs off on everybody around him.
In 1994, boxer George Foreman provided inspiration to a whole generation of folks when he regained the heavyweight championship at age 45. Could Coste do the same for 30-something minor-league journeymen who won't read the writing on the wall and get a real job?
"Maybe, a little bit," he said sheepishly. "(When I was called up,) I talked to one guy in Double-A who's 30, and he said 'Man, that's great. It gives me hope.' He was half-joking and half-serious. I'm not going to be a Hall of Famer, but at the age of 33, I got here, which is something that's unusual. So if I can get here at 33, anybody can get here in the right situation.
"It would have been nice to get here at 21, but honestly, I wouldn't trade anything about the road that I traveled because it's made me appreciate it more. There are days when I wake up and feel like a 33-year-old catcher, but right now I feel like an 18-year-old, and that feels pretty good."
Coste feels pretty good because he is finally realizing something that he's only dreamed about.
"In this game, whether you're in Single-A ball or the big leagues, you know how fast things can change — for the better or the worse," he said. "I was sitting in Triple-A just days ago and had no idea that I was coming here. Then I got the phone call, and now I'm in Philadelphia. I guess you can say I'm living my dream."
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