Chris Coste is an Accidental Villian

Chris Coste has now been thrown into the middle of an increasingly heated rivalry ... almost entirely by accident.

Let's set the scene: Shea Stadium, Saturday afternoon. The Mets are about to lose to the Phillies for the seventh straight time. Marlon Anderson (pictured) has just gotten tossed for arguing a third strike called by umpire Dan Iassogna (also pictured). Anderson went half-berserk at what he thought was ball four (by a mile) and not only said his peace, but lobbed his helmet in the general direction of Iassogna from the top step of the dugout. One problem: the helmet hit Phillies catcher Chris Coste near a sensitive area. Would Coste retaliate with punches? Would he call for the beanball on the on-deck batter? We'll let Coste explain what he did with the helmet:

"I looked over and saw (Jose) Reyes looking at me like this (a facial expression as if to say uh oh) and honestly I wasn't even mad about it. I thought it was kind of funny and in my mind I thought 'the dugout is going to love this,' and I kicked it for the dugout. I didn't realize I was going to get booed by 40,000 people."

As Coste recounted the story, Jimmy Rollins - he of the 'we're the team to beat statement' that is far from forgotten in Queens - chimed in with a congratulations.

"Now I know at least 1% of what Jimmy Rollins feels like every time he walks out there. That's a tiny, tiny bit."

If the helmet had been kicked with a head still inside it, then that percentage goes up. Perhaps ... 2%. Probably the only time getting 40,000 people to boo you would count as "diffusing" a situation. For the Mets, well if they were looking for revenge, I'd say losing two games and having their catcher kick a Mets helmet wouldn't quite qualify as such.

Previously on FanHouse:
Mets Look for Revenge Against Phillies