If you are a Phillies fan and a Twitter user, then two nights ago you most certainly were made aware of the conversation that was occurring regarding the 2008 parade that commemorated the club’s first World Series title in over two decades.

For those that don’t have Twitter (shame on you!), allow me to fill you in: A certain print writer with a connection to a certain city questioned whether or not there were actually 2 million people in attendance for the parade that took place on Broad St last Halloween.

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Poor Costey.

First, he was DFA’d from the WFC’s in favor of the no-bat-having Paul Bako, then he gets picked up by Ed Wade and the ‘Stros, now his autobiographical memoir is on the shelves at a 50% discount.

The only way things could get any worse is if he’s traded to the Mets this week.

Click .gif Above for Full Catharsis

I’m not shedding any tears, mind you. As a player, I kind of felt he was a drag. Nothing personal, you see. In fact, his was one of the happier stories in baseball’s long history of heartbreak and skulduggery.

Yeah, that’s right, I said it: a happy story.

If you leave out the end of that one chapter where he loses his backup backstop job to Paul Bako.

It sucks that he has to leave a championship-caliber team for an Ed Wade-run clusterfuck, and yes, it sucks that Coste has to uproot his family and move to Texas (fucking Texas). But has anyone in the Phillies front office considered Shane’s feelings? They’re breaking up a bromance for the ages, for chrissakes:

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For guys like Cole Hamels, the rise to The Show didn’t take too long. After recovering from a series of injuries, Cole spent about three weeks in the minors in 2006 before getting the call up to the bigs.

But for others, the trip takes longer. And in some cases, much longer.

Chris Coste was one of those players. Having spent most of his career crouched behind the plate of the independent leagues, he is the very definition of a journeyman ballplayer. But since he has been a Phillie, Coste has been a steady right-handed stick who supplies some much needed power when called upon to spell the steady Carlos Ruiz. Regardless of the amount of playing time he gets, the catcher-turned-author-turned World Series champion has had some big moments in a Phillies uniform.

And in the wee hours of August 27th, the 33-year-old rookie would come up huge against the rival New York Mets, which is our 5th biggest moment of the 2008 regular season.

After a four game sweep at home against the Dodgers, the Phillies found themselves right back into the hunt for the National League East with the Mets coming into town for a two game set. Unfortunately for the Phils, Jamie Moyer didn’t have his best stuff and the Metros took full advantage by jumping to a 7-0 lead behind starter Pedro Martinez.

Of course, the Phillies would battle back (does anyone see a theme?), thanks to big flies by Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, followed by a two-out, ninth inning double by Eric Bruntlett that plated Jayson Werth from first base to tie the game.

Neither team would do much of anything over the next three innings, until Shane Victorino led off the bottom half of the 13th with a triple. The Mets would then intentionally load the bases to face pinch-hitter Brett Myers. After working a full count (foreshadowing, perhaps?) without swinging the bat, Myers would eventually strike out, setting the stage for Coste, who was 3-for-3 after coming off the bench in the 9th inning.

And on an 1-0 pitch from Scott Schoeneweis, Coste launched a fastball to deep center field that landed just shy of the warning track, giving the Phillies the 8-7 win in 13 innings and putting them atop the standings  in the NL east.

After the jump, take a look at the longest single in Coste’s career…

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