All three have bounced around baseball, been released countless times, yet perservered. They all obviously made an impression on Manuel when they were with the Indians organization and he gave them a chance in Philadelphia.
 The Phillies are the 10th MLB team for Seanez, who made his big-league debut for Cleveland back in 1989. He's also pitched for nearly 20 minor-league teams including two in the Phillies' system this year at age 39.
But he had a productive season out of the Philadelphia bullpen, going 5-4 with a 3.53 ERA in 42 outings. The Indians could have used a veteran with his experience in their bullpen this year. It has been nearly 20 years since Seanez made his debut out of the pen in relief for the Indians.
Various arm injuries and surgeries kept derailing Seanez's career, which got its start when he was drafted by Cleveland in the fourth round in 1986.
The right-hander became somewhat of a legend in the Tribe farm system. Armed with a fastball that reached the upper 90s, he pitched a no-hitter in his first pro season at Class A Burlington in 1986. He soon became one of the most feared pitchers in the game because of his wildness. At Class A Kinston in 1989, he walked 111 and fanned 149 in 113 innings.
"Man, that seems like light years ago," Seanez said in a 2006 trip to Cleveland when he was with the Boston Red Sox. "A lot has changed since I first came to Cleveland. Heck the stadium is gone. All those other players have retired.
"Me? I just love baseball. I'll keep pitching as long as somebody will give me a chance."
Take a look at his career stops:
1986 Burlington (Class A, Indians)
1987 Waterloo (Class A, Indians)
1988 Waterloo
1989 Kinston (Class A, Indians)
1989 Colorado Springs (AAA, Indians)
1989 CLEVELAND
1990 Canton-Akron (AA, Indians)
1990 Colorado Springs
1990 CLEVELAND
1991 Canton-Akron
1991 Colorado Springs
1991 CLEVELAND
Traded to Dodgers for LHP Dennis Cook and RHP Mike Christopher on 12/10/91
1992 On disabled list all season, then traded to Colorado for SS Jody Reed, 11/19/92
1993 Central Valley (Class A, Rockies)
1993 Colorado Springs (AAA, Rockies)
Released 7/16/93, signed by San Diego, 7/22/93
1993 Las Vegas (AAA, Padres)
1993 San Diego
Released by Padres, 11/18/93; signed by Dodgers, 1/14/94
1994 Albuquerque (AAA, Dodgers)
1994 Los Angeles
1995 San Bernardino (Class A, Dodgers)
1995 Los Angeles
1996 Albuquerque
Signed by Mets as minor-league free agent, 1/14/97
1997 Norfolk (AAA, Mets)
Traded to Kansas City, 5/31/97
1997 Omaha (AAA, Royals)
Signed by Braves as free agent, 12/15/97
1998 Richmond (AAA, Braves)
1998 Atlanta
1999 Atlanta
2000 Greenville (AA, Braves)
2000 Atlanta
Signed by Padres as free agent, 2/25/01
2001 Lake Elsinore (Class A, Padres)
2001 San Diego
Traded to Braves for RHP Winston Abreu, 8/31/01
2001 Atlanta
Signed by Rangers as free agent, 2/1/02
2002 Oklahoma City (AAA, Rangers)
2002 Texas
2003 Oklahoma City
Released by Rangers, 5/3/03; signed by Red Sox, 5/6/03
2003 Pawtucket (AAA, Red Sox)
2003 Boston
Released by Red Sox, 7/29/03; signed by Cubs, 8/2/03
2003 Iowa (AAA, Cubs)
2003 Chicago Cubs
Signed by Royals as free agent, 2/14/04
2004 Kansas City
2004 Omaha (AAA, Royals)
Traded to Florida for OF Abraham Nunez, 7/31/04
2004 Florida
Signed by Padres as free agent, 11/24/04
2005 San Diego
2005 Lake Elsinore (Class A, Padres)
Signed by Red Sox as free agent, 12/20/05
2006 Boston
Released by Red Sox, 8/19/06; signed by Padres, 8/31/06
2006 San Diego
Signed by Dodgers as free agent, 1/22/07
2007 Los Angeles
Signed by Philadelphia as a free agent, 4/1/08
2008 Lakewood (Class A, Phillies)
2008 Lehigh Valley (AAA, Phillies)
2008 Philadelphia
Durbin, 30, has pitched for nine minor-league teams and five in the majors since being a third-round draft pick by Kansas City in 1996.
The right-hander spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons in the Indians organization. He spent the early part of '03 recovering from an arm injury that had limited him to only 8 1-3 innings the previous season for the Royals. He went 1-1 in two starts for Class A Mahoning Valley, 2-0 in three starts at Double-A Akron and 3-6 in 10 starts at Triple-A Buffalo before being called to Cleveland. He was 0-1 in three games with the Indians in 2003.
The next season, Durbin was 3-3 in nine starts at Buffalo, but when injuries hit the Indians' staff, he got called to Cleveland and went 5-6 in 17 games, including eight starts.
He was selected off waivers by Arizona that August, then went to Washington and Detroit before signing with the Phillies.
He had his best year at the big-league level for Philadelphia in 2008, going 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA and one save in 71 games, all out of the bullpen.
 The most improbable player to get a World Series ring is Coste. Seanez and Durbin both were top prospects with lively fastballs whose careers were sidelined by injuries. Nobody wanted Coste -- at least not until the Indians took a chance on him at age 27. He didn't make it to the big leagues until age 33 with the Phillies.
Coste played four years of independent ball for Fargo-Moorehead in the Northern League. He put up some impressive hitting stats, totalling 44 homers with 221 RBI and a .323 average in 335 games. That caught the attention of the Indians, who signed him and sent him to Double-A Akron in 2000.
He hit .333 (80-for-240) with two homers and 31 RBI for the Aeros and got promoted to Buffalo for 31 games, where he batted .302 (29-for-96) with four homers and eight RBI.
Coste spent most of 2001 and 2002 with Buffalo, hitting .288 and .318, respectively. He even pitched in two games for the Bisons, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in five innings in 2002.
He signed with the Red Sox as a minor-league free agent in 2002, then went to the Milwaukee Brewers organization for a year before signing with the Phillies for 2005. Despite hitting .292 with 20 homers and 89 RBI for their Triple-A team, the Phillies released him -- but signed him again to a minor-league deal for 2006.
When veteran Mike Lieberthal got injured, the Phillies brought up both Coste and Carlos Ruiz. Coste hit .328 (65-for-198) with seven homers and 32 RBI as a 33-year-old rookie.
Coste and Ruiz have shared the catching duties the past three years. During that time, Coste has hit .288 (173-for-601) with 21 homers and 90 RBI.
And at age 35, he's won a World Series ring. Manuel, Coste, Durbin and Seanez now have more World Series rings than Albert Belle, Sandy Alomar Jr., Jim Thome, Charlie Nagy, Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel put together.
Hall of Famer Ernie Banks loved to say, "let's play two," but he never even played in one World Series game. Neither did Hall of Famers Nap Lajoie, Luke Appling or Rod Carew.
When it comes to baseball karma, that alone may be all the reason in the world to keep Sal Fasano on next year's Indians roster. The Tribe is the ninth MLB team for the 36-year-old catcher whose minor-league career reads like a road map, too.
Sometimes, the map takes the most unlikely guys to the promised land.
|