A Real Life Disney Sports Movie
| 6
|
by Bberg11
From my blog, The Lazy Athlete
If there is one thing that Disney knows, besides animation, it's the inspirational sports movie. My library is littered with them; some fictional but most based on true stories. You got Miracle, the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team; Invincible, the story of a Philly bartender making the Philadelphia Eagles; Remember the Titans, the story of a football team not only defeating opponents, but also defeating prejudice; and the list could go on and on. What they all have in common is the protagonists never give up on their dreams. No matter what obstacles they face on the way, they persevere, and eventually achieve their dream. Well, there is a real life story going on right now in Philadelphia; Chris Coste, the Phillies backup catcher, and career minor leaguer, is playing out the final part of the plot.
Chris Coste made his major league debut May 21, 2006, at the ripe old age of 33. And he can thank fate for that debut, because he had to get through three catchers on the depth chart: Mike Lieberthal (injured), Sal Fasano (injured), and Alex Gonzalez (unexpectedly retired). But never the less, Coste got to play and his dream was finally coming true.
Coste's story starts in high school, where there wasn't even a varisty baseball team. Then he goes on to play college ball, without any scholarship, at a division III school. None of that got Coste down. He made it to the minors, and the story continued. And this is where it got interesting. Instead of naming all the places that Coste played baseball, it might be easier to mention where he didn't play. In all Coste played in five countries and seven states. It seemed that Coste had good enough numbers for Major League teams to take a look at him. He hit .300 in his minor league career with 96 HRs and 562 RBIs in 12 minor league seasons. And a couple teams did take notice. In 2002, he led the International League in hitting and was about to mak the Cleveland Indian's rosters. That is, until he broke his hand. The Red Sox almost gave him a spot on the team as well. But they sent him back down to the minors right before the season was to start. And his dream took another hit when a numbers game forced the Phillies to keep him in the minors despite his batting .467, 3 HRs, and 11 RBIs in spring training.
Then comes the climax of the story. Coste finally gets his break due to some unfortunate situations to Phillies catchers; of course, fortunate for Coste however. And the rest is history, except for the fact that the story is still being written. In 83 major league games, Coste is batting .329 with a .504 slugging percentage, 9 HRs, and 39 RBIs. Those are highly respectable numbers for a guy who nobody feels belongs in the majors.
No matter what happens from here on out for Coste, he's got to feel like he's already fulfilled his dream. All those years of perseverance alone are enough to be proud of. He could started that one game in 2006, and that could have been the conclusion of that Disney movie. But Coste hasn't stopped there. He is quickly becoming a big part of this team. Just the other night against the Pirates, he delivered with a huge 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Phils some much needed breathing room. The only question that remains is: who does Chris want to play him?
