Phillies Nation

I agree, I liked Coste. I honestly would rather have Bako in the lineup then Coste, but oh well. I also like the “I appreciated the passion Philly fans have for baseball.” Passion can sometime be an understatement. :)

Now, that was a nice little interview. Much better than asking Jamie Moyer about his favorite cereal.

I do miss Chris Coste.

That question about the ump touching his back came from right field.

SDO, I actually wondered about that- I never noticed an ump touching the catcher until I went to a Reading Phils game and sat right behind home plate. The guy we go with is an ump for local softball games and I even asked him if that was routine. I think that would bother me if the ump was leaning on my shoulder, but I guess they get used to it.

Nice interview, btw.

Yeah, I guess I would be somewhat disturbed if a large heavyset man crouching over me touched my back. As long as it was a manly touch, I guess I would be alright.

By the way, I never understood the organization’s logic to let Coste go in the first place. How’s our current 37 yr old backup catcher an upgrade over Coste?

SDO – For his size bako is pretty limber behind home plate….coste well…watching a catcher throw from his knees to gun down someone trying to swipe 2nd says arthritsis to me. If that’s the case then i can’t imagine put him out there on a cold, damp autumn night during a post season game.

Don M., that actually was his second book. The first one, Hey, I’m Just The Catcher, was published in 1997 and is currently out of print.

Don M I too read his book. Its a great read and great story. I would suggest it to anyone who enjoyed him being on the team. It will make you like him even more.

Don M says~ “But his days as a contributing member to a winning baseball team are over..”

My, my, that’s a presumptious remark from you. His team, Houston is not far from being a serious contender in their division. They were a factor in this season’s race until they faded in the second half. Add a quality player or two during the off season and they have a chance to be in the thick of it next year.

Also your judgment of Coste’s ability as catcher suggest a jaundiced view of him. I’m sure pitchers like Hamels and Moyer have a different point of view about Coste. And I have seen some fine defensive effort behind the plate from Coste the past few seasons.

Just take a look at last season in his limited role. He appeared in 78 games and 69 were starts for a total of 612.2 innings. he had just ONE passed ball. He threw out 13 runners in attempted steals for an 23.2% success rate. That is not shabby for a ML catcher.

So in all fairness, he is by any measure a quality catcher and continues to get a chance to play with his new teammates.

I like Coste… I really do… and I think that he’s a decent backup but I never understood the love fest. I understand why people get all giddy over Matt Stairs (his HR against the Dodgers exempts him from almost all criticism) but I don’t think that Coste was good enough to deserve the same free pass. He was always brutal in September, he was a below-average defender, he didn’t run well… he was a nice guy that had one decent season… an adequate pinch hitter… but if you were one of the unlucky ones to suggest that we were better off without him, you might as well have committed blasphemy…

Obviously there are catchers out there that don’t have the strongest arms in the world.. but those guys excel in other parts of the game, at that position.. I wouldn’t say Coste is even Above Average in many, or any aspects of the catchers position

Coste isn’t a great offensive catcher, he isn’t a great defensive catcher either..

Steals against is much more on the pitcher than it is on the catcher because there are certain guys.. Lidge, Hamels, etc.. that just do not hold runners well .. those guys get big leads, great jumps, and easy stolen bases..