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2008 Charlie Manuel's Crash Davis, Coste was in the minors long enough to have done the breaking-in-Nuke LaLoosh thing with Lefty Grove. The Phillies regarded his unexpected 2006 breakthrough with appropriate skepticism and returned him to the minors to start 2007, then busted him all the way down to Double-A after an early call-up. At age 35, Coste won't have much of a shelf life, but if he beats out Jason Jaramillo for the reserve catcher spot this year, he'll provide a bit of sock and the versatility to play either infield corner in an emergency. 2007 Coste ranks right up there with the Tigers as one of the feel-good stories of 2006. Undrafted out of college, Coste spent four years in the Northern League and didn`t play his first game in the minors until age 27. He`s bounced around constantly since then, both from team to team and around the field (he`s played everywhere but center field). He`s done whatever it took to keep playing baseball, including writing a book about his long minor league odyssey; a second tome is on its way. At the risk of spoiling the fairy tale, Coste has never been nearly as a good a hitter in the minors as he was for Philadelphia last year, and cannot be expected to repeat his performance.
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