Spring Training Flashback: 2009

Chris Coste was a real life Rocky Balboa; a baseball doppleganger for Vince Papale. That's perfect for a ballplayer in Philadelphia. The author of The 33-Year-Old Rookie: How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After Eleven Years in the Minors enjoyed a three-and-year run as the Phils' backup catcher and utilityman.
Seen here in a March 2009 Grapefruit League game against the Yankees, Coste later worked as a studio analyst for the Phillies cable channel, coached at Concordia College in Minnesota and last year was on the staff of the indy league Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
But 10 years ago this spring, he was a member of the reigning World Champs. And there probably wasn't a happier player on the field that day at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

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