Catcher Chris Coste will give the Astros an additional option behind starter Ivan Rodriguez. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)
General manager Ed Wade announced Friday afternoon that the Houston Astros claimed catcher Chris Coste off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies, according to an ESPN.com report.
Coste, 36, offers hope and inspiration to all professional baseball players stuck in the minor leagues.
After going undrafted out of Division III Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., Coste spent the next 11 years refusing to give up on his lifelong dream of playing in the big leagues.
From 1995 to 2006, he bounced around independent leagues, as well as the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Phillies minor league organizations.
In 2005, Coste spent the entire season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the Phillies, where he was selected to the International League All-Star team.
He made his major league debut May 26, 2006 as a 33-year-old rookie, becoming the oldest player since Izzy Leon (34) in 1945 to make their debut in a Phillies uniform.
Coste hit .328 with seven home runs and 32 RBI in 65 games during his rookie campaign. He batted .571 with RISP over a two-month period, and generated a .414 average the final 10 games of the season.
In 2007, Coste posted a .279 average, followed by a .263 average last season, including a career-high nine homers, 36 RBI, 28 runs, 72 hits and 17 doubles in 274 at-bats for the 2008 World Series champion Phillies.
Overall, he's recorded 162 career starts behind the plate, including 22 this season.
Coste earned the respect of Philadelphia fans during his tenure in the City of Brotherly Love. A fan club, known as the "Coste Guard," cheered for the veteran catcher at every home game. The group would support Coste by wearing red bathing suits, white t-shirts, sunglasses and sunscreen on their nose.
Coste plays two roles in life -- big league catcher and accomplished author. In 1997, he wrote Hey...I'm Just the Catcher, which covers his first few seasons playing in independent leagues. Also, he released The 33-Year-Old Rookie: How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues in 1998.
Based on the success of The Rookie (2002), starring Dennis Quaid as Jim Morris, and Invincible (2006), with Mark Wahlberg playing Vince Papale, rumors continue to circulate that movie studio representatives have contacted Coste regarding the possibility of making his life story into a movie.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound catcher was hitting .245 with two homers and eight RBI prior to being designated for assignment. Philadelphia needed to clear room in order to activate All-Star outfielder Raúl Ibáñez from the 15-day disabled list.
According to MLB.com, Coste will join the Astros on Saturday in the midst of the weekend series against the Washington Nationals.
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