Phillies Notes: Coste heads to Astros; Ibanez back

Coste's popularity rose after he authored a book, The 33-Year-Old Rookie: How I Finally Made It To the Big Leagues After 11 Years in the Minors. The book chronicled his life in the minors and winter-league baseball, and his unrelenting desire to break into the big leagues.

The Phillies signed him in 2005, and he finally got his first at-bat in the majors on May 21, 2006.

"Once I got to the big leagues in 2006, once I got that one day, I wanted a full year," he said. "And once I got that full year, I wanted 10 years. So that's my approach - at least I'm staying in the big leagues, and I'll do whatever I can to help the Astros win.

"I knew people appreciated my story. But I always said when my career is over I hope people will say he was a good story, but, man, he was a pretty good player as well. So I'm still kind of aiming for that. I'm not a Hall of Famer. I'm not an all-star, but I've had decent production here and there."

In 2007, Coste hit .278 with five homers and 22 RBIs in 48 games. Last season, he hit .263 with with nine homers and 36 RBIs in 98 games. In perhaps his most memorable game, Coste came off the bench in the eighth inning of a game against the Mets on Aug. 26 and went 4 for 4. He won the game in the 13th inning with a walk-off single.

He became the first player in 63 years to enter a game that late and get four hits. His more ardent followers formed the Coste Guard fan club and wore red bathing suits, white T-shirts, and sunglasses and blew whistles to support him.

"When you're in the minor leagues for 12, 13 years, like I was, you definitely don't want to go back, and I'm going to make this game last as long as possible," he said.

Coste was batting .245 with two homers and eight RBIs in 45 games. During parts of four seasons with the Phillies, he hit .282 with 23 homers and 98 RBIs. His departure means Paul Bako will remain the backup catcher to Carlos Ruiz.

Manager Charlie Manuel said Coste got caught up in a numbers game.

"It's tough to see him go," Manuel said. "He did some good things for us. He had some big hits, and he caught some big games for us. This year, it definitely seemed like he had trouble coming off the bench. But he did a tremendous job for us, and hopefully he'll go to Houston and stay in the big leagues for a while."

Ibanez activated

Ibanez wasn't in the starting lineup, but Manuel said he plans to play him tonight and tomorrow. Ibanez was voted onto the NL all-star team by fan balloting.

"He played last night [for Lehigh Valley], and he hadn't played here for a while, so I figured I'd sit him on the bench and use him as a pinch-hitter," Manuel said.

Ibanez was on the disabled list with a strained groin.

Pedro watch

The 37-year-old Martinez pitched three innings in a simulated game. Contrary to a report, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was not in the Dominican Republic to see Martinez.

The Phillies assistant to the GM, Charley Kerfeld, saw Martinez pitch Tuesday. The club asked for another pitching session to see how Martinez's arm responded to Tuesday's workout.

The Phillies would require Martinez to take a physical before they sign him.

Extra bases