The 33-Year-Old Rookie — by Chris Coste

This was a real love-hate book for me, so I’m taking a slightly different approach to the review this time:

What I like about The 33-Year-Old Rookie

-Through telling his story, Coste provides a great reminder that life isn’t easy – and for some it’s harder than others despite having talent, ability and drive. We all need a kick in the pants sometimes that we have to stay focused on the goal, work harder than we currently are, and keep faith in our abilities and that Good Lord willing, things will work themselves out.

-It’s an easy book to read – and by the third chapter I didn’t want to put it down. Coste takes you down his road to the majors with a good mix of speed – 11 years is a lot to chronicle – while stopping to explain what he feels are key points in his career.

-Coste makes it pretty easy to relate to his struggles. While most of us won’t know what it’s like to be a pro ballplayers, it’s easy to substitute your own experience for his, particularly when it comes to gaining trust from your superiors, teammates and others around you.

What I didn’t like about The 33-Year-Old Rookie

-Coste really plays up his own ability and talks a lot about how great he is. I get it – it’s a memoir, and not playing up the highlights doesn’t really make for a great story. But I’m not one to brag about myself, and I don’t like listening to or reading people who brag about themselves. Coste is talented – no secret. But it just wears on me to read someone talking about getting game winning hit after hit, or coming off the bench to pitch or catch in a key situation, and so on. It’s just not my thing.

-On a related note, the whole “everyone says I’m really good and should be playing” thing gets fatiguing.

-Coste doesn’t really turn his story into advice on how to overcome adversity or battle through situations. Having just read and enjoyed Yogi Berra’s new book, I was hoping that Coste would have at least been able to summarize what he’s learned into something I could have taken with me, but no such luck. Maybe he’ll write a book when he retires from playing that will have that in it.

Coste’s is a interesting story and The 33-Year-Old Rookie is a worthwhile summer read. If you’re reading this in Philadelphia, or at least a city in the National League, you might have a little more interest in this since you have a better chance to see Coste play than those in the American League. But regardless, it’s a nice book for the summer that you can get through without too much trouble and come out feeling better about things than when you started.