| Jack Cust | |
|---|---|
 Cust with the Seattle Mariners | |
| Designated hitter /Outfielder | |
| Born: (1979-01-07)January 7, 1979 (age 47) Flemington, New Jersey, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 26, 2001, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 27, 2011, for the Seattle Mariners | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .242 |
| Home runs | 105 |
| Runs batted in | 323 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
John Joseph Cust III (born January 7, 1979) is an American former professionalbaseballdesignated hitter andoutfielder. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theArizona Diamondbacks,Colorado Rockies,Baltimore Orioles,San Diego Padres,Oakland Athletics, andSeattle Mariners.
Cust was born to Jack Sr. and Faith Cust.[1] His father had played for theSeton Hall Pirates baseball team which went to the1974 College World Series[2] and his brothers, Kevin and Mike, both playedminor league baseball.[1] Cust attendedImmaculata High School inSomerville, New Jersey. In 1997, he was first-team High School All-American atfirst base.[3] Cust initially committed to playcollege baseball for theAlabama Crimson Tide.[4]
In1997, Cust, out of high school, was the first round draft pick (30th overall) of theArizona Diamondbacks, and had a .447on-base percentage in 35 games in the Rookie League. Cust was aPioneer League All-Star in1998, where he led the league inwalks (86), on-base percentage (.530), andruns scored (75). In1999, he led theCalifornia League inhomers (32), on-base percentage (.450), andslugging percentage (.651), and wasBaseball America's 1st team Minor League All-Star DH, California League All-Star, and the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year. In2000, he had a .440 on-base percentage atEl Paso in theTexas League while leading the league in walks (117) andstrikeouts (150).
In2001, he was aPacific Coast League All-Star while leading the league with 102 walks, and in2002 he was theTriple-A All-Star Game MVP. In2006, he led the PCL with 143 walks (also leading the minor leagues), walking 24.5% of the time, while sporting a .467 on-base percentage with 30 home runs. In 11 minor league seasons with five different organizations, he hit exactly 200 home runs, had a .286 batting average, and a .429 on-base percentage. Statistically, he hit a home run once every 19at-bats, struck out once every 3 at-bats, and earned 1 walk per game.[citation needed]
Cust made his Major League debut with the Diamondbacks on September 26,2001. In 3 games for Arizona, he went 1-for-2 (.500) with a walk.
On January 7,2002, his 23rd birthday, Cust was traded alongsideJD Closser to theColorado Rockies in exchange forpitcherMike Myers. Cust spent the majority of the 2002 season with the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate, theColorado Springs Sky Sox. He played in 35 games with the big league club, going 11–65 (.169 batting average) with one home run.
The Rockies traded Cust to theBaltimore Orioles in exchange forChris Richard and cash on March 11,2003.[5] Cust appeared in 28 games (27 in2003, 1 in2004) during his two seasons with the ballclub,[6] spending most of the time with theOttawa Lynx. He was most noted as an Oriole for an infamousbaserunning gaffe that resulted in his making the final out in a 12-inning 5–4 loss to theNew York Yankees atCamden Yards on August 16, 2003. Representing the potential tying run at first base after a two-out pinch-hit walk, he attempted to score on a double to right field byLarry Bigbie, but was caught in arundown after tumbling to the grass a few steps beyond third base. Even though he outmaneuveredcatcherJorge Posada andthird basemanAaron Boone and was headed towards an undefendedhome plate, Cust fell to the grass again and was tagged out from behind by Boone.[7][8]
Cust was grantedfree agency following the 2004 season.
On November 15, 2004, he was signed by the Oakland Athletics. He spent the whole season in Triple-ASacramento, and was granted free agency after the season. On December 6, 2005, he signed a minor league contract with theSan Diego Padres. He just had 3 at-bats in the2006 season. He began the2007 with the San Diego Padres' Triple-APortland Beavers. On May 3, 2007, the Padres traded him to the Oakland Athletics, although he was rumored to be joining Japan'sChiba Lotte Marines. The Athletics needed another designated hitter due to an injury to veteranMike Piazza. Cust quickly endeared himself to A's fans by hitting 6 home runs in his first 7 games. Cust would hit .346 with 14RBI during that seven-game stretch. On May 13, 2007, with two outs and an 0–2 count in the bottom of the ninth, the A's rallied to score 5 runs to beatJoe Borowski and theCleveland Indians 10–7, ending with Cust hitting awalk-off 3-run home run.
After hitting .348 with 1 double and 5 home runs along with 13 RBI, Cust shared Co-American League Player of the Week honors along with teammateDan Johnson for the week ending May 13, 2007. On August 10, Cust hit his first major leaguegrand slam offrelief pitcherMacay McBride of theDetroit Tigers after hitting a 3-run double earlier in the game to give him a career-high 7 RBI. He finished the 2007 season leading the Athletics in home runs with 26, walking 21.0% of the time (tops in the major leagues) but striking out 41.5% of the time (also tops in the majors).[9]
For the week ending May 4th,2008, Cust was once again theAmerican League Player of the Week, going 10 for 20 with three home runs over the week.[10] On September 19, he broke theAL record for most strikeouts in one season with 187. For the season he struck out 41.0% of the time, the highest percentage in major league baseball, once every 2.4 at-bats.[11][12] He also walked 18.8% of the time, the second highest rate in the majors, and led the American League with 111 walks.[11]
On December 12, 2009, Cust was non-tendered by the Athletics making him a free agent. On January 7, 2010, Cust re-signed with theOakland Athletics on a 1-year $2.5 million contract.[13] However, he was designated for assignment on April 3, at the end of Spring training. On April 7, Cust cleared waivers and was outrighted toTriple-A. During his 33 minor league game tenure, he hit .273 with 4 home runs and 19 RBIs, and matched his 33 Ks w/ 33 walks. On May 15, he was added to the 40-man roster and recalled. In the first game he appeared in, he made a comedic error in left field. He appeared mostly in the outfield untilEric Chavez ended up on the DL, then assumed the primary DH spot. On September 13, Cust hit his 100th career home run in a 3–1 Athletics victory over the Kansas City Royals atKauffman Stadium.[14]
Following the 2010 season, Cust was non-tendered for the second year in a row, and became a free agent.[15]
On December 8, 2010, Cust signed a one-year contract with theSeattle Mariners. On July 29, 2011, the Mariners released Cust after he batted .213/.344/.329 with three home runs and 23 RBI over 67 appearances.[16]
Cust signed a minor league contract with thePhiladelphia Phillies on August 12, 2011.[17] In 6 games for the Triple-ALehigh Valley IronPigs, he went 5-for-20 (.250) with 1 home run and 2 RBI. Cust was released a week later on August 20.[18]
On January 18, 2012, Cust signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with theHouston Astros that included an option for the 2013 season.[19] However, Cust was released by the Astros organization on March 27, before the end of spring training.[20]
On March 28, 2012, Cust signed a minor league contract with theNew York Yankees and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, theScranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.[21] In 98 games for Scranton, he batted .249/.400/.475 with 20 home runs and 66 RBI. Cust was released by the Yankees organization on August 1.[22]
On August 4, 2012, Cust was signed to a minor league contract by theToronto Blue Jays and assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, theLas Vegas 51s.[23] In 16 games for Las Vegas, he went 10-for-50 (.200) with no home runs and 6 RBI. On November 3, Cust was declared a minor league free agent by Major League Baseball.[24]
On February 17, 2013, theTampa Bay Rays announced that Cust would be attending major league spring training on a minor league contract.[25] On March 23, the Rays announced that they had released Cust.[26]
After spending all of 2013 out of professional baseball, Cust resurfaced with theBaltimore Orioles after signing a minor league contract with the team on February 5, 2014.[27] His comeback attempt lasted 44 days; he was released prior to the start of the season on March 21.[28]
On December 13, 2007, Cust was named in theMitchell Report as a user of performance-enhancing drugs, although there was never any evidence outside of a conversation he once supposedly had with former teammateLarry Bigbie.[29] Cust denied any wrongdoing or use of performance-enhancing drugs and said there were inaccuracies in his citation in the report.[30]
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