PHILADELPHIA -- Chris Coste's long, grueling wait is over. He's finally in the big leagues.
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The Philadelphia Phillies called up the 33-year-old Coste from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre on Sunday to replace infielder Alex Gonzalez on the roster. Gonzalez, 33, retired after 13 seasons in the majors. He was batting just .111 (4-for-36) in his first year with the Phillies.
"He's been a regular and it has been a difficult transition for him," Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said of Gonzalez. "It's important to be happy and I don't think for the last couple months he's been a happy camper."
Gonzalez was driving to Florida and unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Coste is fulfilling a lifelong dream. A non-roster invitee to camp after hitting .292 with career highs in home runs (20) and RBI (89) for Scranton last season, Coste was Philadelphia's final cut after an impressive spring training.
The versatile Coste hit .463 with three homers and 11 RBI in the spring and was hitting .177 with two homers and 14 RBI at Scranton. A natural catcher, Coste also can play first base, third base and left field.
Coste arrived before Sunday's game against the Boston Red Sox, giving the Phillies insurance behind the plate. Regular Mike Lieberthal is on the disabled list with a knee injury and backup Sal Fasano could miss a couple games after getting hit with a foul tip, leaving rookie Carlos Ruiz as the starter.
"I'm waiting to wake up from a dream," Coste said after the Phillies beat the Red Sox 10-5. "I was pretty disappointed in spring training, but I certainly didn't give up hope."
Gonzalez signed a $750,000, one-year contract with the Phillies in February. He hit .269 with nine homers and 38 RBI in 109 games for Tampa Bay last season. Gonzalez was the Devils Rays' starting third baseman on opening day and made 91 of his 97 starts at that spot.
A right-handed hitter, Gonzalez had a .243 batting average with 137 homers and 536 RBI in 1,396 games for Toronto (1994-2001), the Chicago Cubs (2002-2004), Montreal (2004), San Diego (2004), Tampa Bay (2005) and the Phillies. He singled in his final at-bat in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Red Sox.
Gonzalez hit a career-high 20 homers with the Cubs in 2003, but batted only .228 that year. His best all-around season came with Toronto in 2001 when he hit .253 with 17 homers, 76 RBI and stole 18 bases.
A superb defensive player, Gonzalez entered this season ranked seventh among active shortstops with a .975 career fielding percentage. He twice led the league in fielding percentage at that position (1997 and 2003).
Coste began his professional career in the independent Northern League and spent four of his five seasons with Fargo-Moorhead, where he originally was signed to draw interest as a hometown player.
CoreyMcFarland 
