CINCINNATI — His name is Mike Costanzo and he is prepared. He knows it is going to happen, and he has steeled himself for the verbal onslaught.
The Cincinnati Reds play five games in New York this week — two against the Mets and three against the Yankees.
Costanzo knows it is inevitable that fans will be calling him 'Lord of the Idiots,' a description of TV sitcom star George Costanza from "Seinfeld."
"I hear it all the time and I know I'll hear it a lot in New York," Costanzo said with a smile. "There is only one letter difference — my name ends in 'o' and his ends in 'a.'
That the baseball Costanzo will be in New York is a fabulous story, a tale of a long odyssey in which it looked as if the 28-year-old infielder might never tread the turf of a major league baseball field.
His time finally came this weekend when the Reds placed Scott Rolen on the disabled list and Costanzo was called up from Triple-A Louisville.
To think he might have put his baseball career in jeopardy himself when he came out of college displays his courage and maybe stubbornness. The Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the second round of 2005, but he quickly ended up in the Baltimore system. The Orioles knew he had pitched in college and wanted him to pitch instead of play his preferred third base.
"Am I a pitcher? No," Costanzo said. "I pitched in college, but never pitched in professional baseball. They asked me to pitch, but I said no, so the Orioles released me."
Asked why he didn't want to pitch, Costanzo smiled and said, "Because I can hit. I like playing every day and I like hitting."
So was it quitting time? No way.
Costanzo signed with Camden, NJ, in the independent Atlantic League, waiting to be rediscovered. It didn't take long.
"I played independent ball for two weeks and the Reds saw me and picked me up," he said.
That was in 2010 and he has since bounced between Double-A and Triple-A in the Reds system, never getting a sniff at his first major league uniform after, for six years, wearing uniforms that said Batavia, Clearwater, Reading, Norfolk, Bowie, Camden, Carolina, Peninsula and Louisville.
Wasn't there a period when he considered taking up a profession with a future?
"I've never thought once about quitting baseball," Costanzo said. "It actually never popped into my head. But being 28 and playing in Triple-A for five years makes you wonder sometimes, but I never really wanted to stop playing.
"But thinking about when the chance will come is an everyday occurrence. A lot of guys never get the chance. For me to get it is unbelievable. The best thing was when I called my parents (in Glen Mills, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia). It was pretty awesome."
What a great Mother's Day present. His parents boarded a plane from Philadelphia to Cincinnati, hoping to see their son make his major league debut on Mother's Day.
Costanzo made his major-league debut in the fifth inning Sunday and pleased his mother. It was a pinch-hit assignment and he drove a deep fly sacrifice fly to left field, his first major-league RBI.
Although he wasn't on the 40-day roster, Costanzo made himself visible during spring training games when several times he was summoned from minor league camp to play in major league exhibition games.
Actually, he caught manager Dusty Baker's eye two years ago.
"I saw him in spring training two years ago and told him, 'I like your stroke,'" Baker said. "I wondered how come he hasn't played at a higher level for a longer period of time. You always want to see somebody reach their goal no matter what age they are.
"I liked his stroke, but they say he needs some work around the bag. They say he has a real strong throwing arm. He'll get an opportunity here. He's aggressive, that's what I like."
Costanzo can't wait for his first occupation of the batter's box after absorbing the major league atmosphere during spring training and now dressing in a big league clubhouse.
"A lot of emotions are running through my head right now," Costanzo said. "It has been a pleasant journey for me and I'm ecstatic being here. Right now I'm in a good routine, a good rhythm and every day I went on the field and busted my butt and I've been on a good stretch."
His gratitude is high for the time Baker permitted him to bump hips with the big team during spring training.
"It was great going over there getting the atmosphere, even though it was a lot more laid-back because it was spring," Costanzo said. "But just being around the guys every day and seeing what it takes was an awesome experience."
Now he awaits the George Costanza jokes and his first major league at-bat, whichever comes first.
