The original Chris Coste

***Preface: I had this post planned before news broke that Chris Coste said he has agreed to a deal with the Mets. So until you finish reading this post, please pretend that Coste isn't an enemy.***

Before there was Chris Coste, there was Steve Fireovid.

Coste kicked around the minors for years, refusing to give up on his dreams of being a major league ball player until he beat the odds and became a rookie at 33 years old and a World Champion two years later.

Fireovid's story is a bit different. Like Coste, he never really got a fair shake, but he made it to the majors at age 24. But he never stuck, tossing 65 innings over five seasons for four teams, including the Phillies.

The similarity with Coste is that he refused to give up, making it back to the majors. And he wrote a book about it. In The 26th Man, Fireovid chronicles his 1990 season, which he thought would be his last, pitching for the AAA Expos.

I've read the book before, but decided to reread it recently. I'm glad I did. It's a gripping account of how a man who knows he won't get another chance at 33 years old never gives up. It's a nice look at the workings of baseball with the reminders that the game doesn't always reward the most able or hardest-working players. Sometimes the hot-shot draft pick gets preferential treatment, even though, as Fireovid constantly notes, the difference in talent between AAA players and major leaguers isn't that great.

I've been meaning to reread this book since I read Coste's The 33-Year-Old Rookie, which was first reviewed on this blog by Christine.

I think I liked Fireovid's book better - it seems more down to earth, personable and matter-of-fact. But I might be biased against the soon-to-be Met.

Incidentally, it's been several years since I read this book, and I had forgotten that he was a Phillie. Fireovid said he had a good spring in 1983 and was included in the team photo, but was sent down to the minors on the last day of spring training after a trade, which would have created room for him, fell through. Sounds just like one of the many events to stymie Coste's career.

I would love to know how Fireovid's life turned out. A Google search yielded nothing other than the book.

More bad news: Sports Illustrated is officially irrelevant, naming Derek Jeter its sportsman of the year. I think even Grady Sizemore would have been a better pic. {This is how he's been spending his time? Thanks, Grady. See if I pick you for MVP. Again.}