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The 33-Year-Old Rookie: How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After Eleven Years in the Minors By Chris Coste ( Ballantine Books )
Release Date: 2008-03-18
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List Price: $25.00
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Product Description
Chris Coste dreamed of playing major-league baseball from the age of seven. But after eleven grueling years in the minors, a spot on a major-league roster still seemed just out of his reach–until that fateful call came from the Philadelphia Phillies in May 2006. At age thirty-three (“going on eighty”), Coste was finally heading to the big time.
The 33-Year-Old Rookie is like a real-life Rocky, an unforgettable and inspirational story of one man’s unwavering pursuit of a lifelong goal. Beginning in a single-parent home in Fargo, North Dakota, and ending behind home plate on the flawless diamond of the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park–where fans and teammates call him “Chris Clutch” because of his knack for getting timely hits–this intimate account of Coste’s baseball odyssey is a powerful story of determination, perseverance, and passion.
For eleven seasons, Coste hustled, fought, and gritted his way to his breakthrough–and never lost faith in his abilities. Along the way, he gained the affection and admiration of baseball fans from Ottawa and Scranton to various Mexican and Venezuelan cities. Battered by years spent behind a catcher’s mask, and faced with bracing realities–there were bills to pay, and his young daughter was entering first grade–Coste decided to give it one last shot in 2006. But that year, during the Phillies’ major-league spring training, Coste was demoted to the minors at the last minute to make room for a utility outfielder, despite having hit a blistering .463 and earning the trust of the team’s pitchers. Later that season, though, Coste finally got the call-up, and he hit .364 during the Phillies’ furious battle to nail down the final postseason berth.
Coste takes us through the 2006 spring training season–with its pulse-quickening moments and close calls–and into his first season as a major-league catcher with the Phillies. From tense stretch-run games that kept Phillies’ fans on the edge of their seats to moments of intimate personal reflection, Coste’s saga offers baseball aficionados an inside look at a remarkable life and career. In this stirring, wry, and candid look at the life of a professional baseball nomad who never surrendered his dream, we savor the sometimes bittersweet fruits of victory against seemingly insurmountable odds.
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 Great book!!!
I bought this for my husband for father's day. He's a huge Phillies fan, but he's said that even if he wasn't he would love this book. It's an inspiring story and a quick read. Would recommend to anyone, even if you're not a Phillies fan.
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 How to get to the majors
I tore through this book on the beach in less than 2 days. A credit to his wife Marcia for sticking with him and making sure he never gave up on his dream. Anyone with, or who once ad, major league dreams will appreciate this book. A great beach read.
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Light and interesting reivew of MLB
Sadly the business of baseball is painted in this self penned tome by Phillies catcher, Chris Coste. Certainly if Coste had been a professional football (American) player, he would have been in much worse shape. But spending a few years being a professional, albeit by today's standards underpaid, baseball player on his hometown minor league baseball team, the Fargo Morehead RedHawks, precluded Mr. Coste from being exposed to MLB as a teenager; as most who enter it are. The trials and trevails are explained to both the novice and the not-novice alike. A little like Muhammed Ali, making a movie while still a professional boxer, you hope the ending of this book is really just the beginning of a great career. Especially if you are a Phillies fan.
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CHRIS COSTE --- 33 YEAR OLD ROOKIE
THIS IS A GREAT READ AND A TRULY HEARTWARMING STORY. A TRUE TESTAMENT TO PERSEVERENCE. AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS, NOT JUST PHILLIES FANS. TOO BAD THERE AREN'T MORE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES WITH THE ATTITUDE AND VALUES OF CHRIS COSTE.
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The 33 year old Rookie
I am typically not a reader, but finished this book in 4 days. couldn't put it down
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