When baby Mike Costanzo was brought home from the hospital, he donned not a blanket or bonnet, but a tiny Philadelphia Phillies jacket. He grew up in the suburbs smashing homers out of the parking lot of the bank behind his house and dreamt of one day hitting one out of a real ballpark for the Phils. With Spring Training beginning, Mike Costanzo is rapidly getting closer to living his wildest dream. “I’m looking to just take it one game at a time and do my best to help my team this year,” said Costanzo, a hard-hitting third baseman who is currently playing with the Single A Clearwater Threshers.
A native of Springfield, Delaware County, Costanzo was the Phillies’ first draft pick in the 2005 MLB draft and the 65th overall pick. He was a First Team All-American in 2005 at Coastal Carolina University after batting .379 with 16 homers. While at Coastal, he also was voted Big South Male Student-Athlete of the Year in ’05.
In the summer of 2004, Costanzo had a chance to play in the storied Cape Cod Summer League, which was the setting of the movie “Summer Catch.” While he jokes that “I didn’t get to date Jessica Biel,” he did put up impressive numbers, hitting .234 with six homers in a wooden bat league that featured college baseball’s elite pitchers.
Last summer, Costanzo played for the Batavia Muckdogs in the New York – Penn league for his first tour of duty in the minors. Struggling at first, Costanzo improved consistently as the season wore on due to a good work ethic and positive outlook. Making the adjustment to the wooden bat, Costanzo ended up hitting .274 with 11 homers and a team-leading 50 RBIs.
Costanzo says he likes Clearwater so far.
“It’s 75 degrees and sunny down here. Unbelievable,” he said.
Never one to gaze too far into the future, Costanzo has set humble goals for himself.
“My goals for this season are just to continue to improve my hitting and fielding.”
In the offseason, Costanzo stayed with his family, who currently live just outside of West Chester. Always ready for a good time, Costanzo spent the occasional night on the town.
“I was at 15 North… Kildaire’s was awesome,” said Costanzo.
Costanzo’s affiliation with West Chester goes further, as many members of the University baseball team played with or against him in high school when he played for Archbishop Carroll in Radnor. Most notable is pitcher and former teammate Frank Gailey, who Costanzo fondly remembers bull-rushing after winning the 2002 Philadelphia Catholic League Championship.
“Right now, it’s only me and one other guy down here [in Clearwater] and it’s been unreal so far,” said Costanzo. “I just have to keep working hard and growing as a player, and maybe some day I’ll be up there with Mike Schmidt as a great Phillies third baseman.