Jack Cust #32

Ranked first in the AL in lowest percent of pitches put in play (10.6%), second in pitches per plate appearance (4.40) and fourth in percent of pitches taken (64.1%)...the percent of pitches put in play were the lowest by a Major Leaguer since 1988 and the pitches per plate appearance were second best by an Athletic over that span (Henderson, 4.60 in 1994)...had a roller coaster season with his batting average as he hit .222 in May, .329 in June, .213 in July, .314 in August and .193 in September...hit .273 against right-handed pitchers and .218 against lefties...batted .294 in Oakland and .219 on the road...hit .347 in 16 interleague games compared to .243 against AL teams...had two home runs in 39 games against AL West teams and 24 home runs in 85 games against everyone else...made 56 starts at designated hitter, 46 in right field and 12 in left field...also went 1 for 6 (.167) with three walks and two strikeouts as a pinch hitter...started games at every spot in the order from third through eighth, including 50 starts hitting cleanup and 31 starts batting third...batted .283 with eight home runs and 20 RBI in 32 games total in the three spot...was tied for the Pacific Coast League lead and tied for fifth in all of minor league baseball with eight home runs when he was traded to the A's on May 3...his first week as an Athletic was one of the most memorable in Oakland history...made his A's debut on May 6 at Tampa Bay and homered to become the 15th player in Oakland history to homer in his first game as an Athletic...then had his first career two-homer game on May 10 at Kansas City...that began a streak of four consecutive games with a home run and he had five home runs and 12 RBI total over that span...capped the streak with his first career walk-off home run on May 13 against Cleveland...his three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning completed the A's five run ninth inning in a 10-7 win over the Indians...was named American League Co-Player of the Week for the week of May 7-13, an honor he shared with teammate Dan Johnson...went 8 for 23 (.348) with five home runs and 13 RBI in six games...hit a three-run home run on May 19 against San Francisco, giving him eight home runs and 20 RBI in his first 13 games as an Athletic...became the first player in Oakland history to hit eight home runs in his first 41 at bats with the A's...the previous quickest was Dave Kingman, who did it in 63 at bats in 1984...snapped a career long 0 for 17 streak with his second inning double on May 28 against Texas.

Hit the 200th minor league home run of his career on June 15 while playing for Oakland...had homered in a game that was suspended on May 2 and that game was completed on the 15th and added to the statistics...had three straight three-hit games from June 15 to 17, the 11th time in Oakland history a player has done that...is the first to do it since Scott Hatteberg (April 8-10, 2003)...snapped a season high 23-game, 67-at bat homerless streak on June 17 against St. Louis and hit seven home runs over a 14- game span from June 17 to July 3...compiled a season best seven-game hitting streak from June 20 to 29 (10 for 27, .370)...had a then-career high five RBI on June 27 at Cleveland...hit .385 (15 for 39) with seven home runs and 19 RBI in 10 games against Cleveland in 2007...the seven home runs equaled the most in Oakland history in one season against the Indians (Canseco and McGwire also had seven each in 1990)...was 2 for 5 with his first career grand slam, a double and a career high seven RBI on August 10 at Detroit...the seven RBI were the most by an A's designated hitter since Troy Neel also had seven on July 8, 1993 vs. Boston...had his second career two-homer game on August 14 against Chicago...led the Majors with 41 strikeouts and 30 walks in 25 games in September...is just the second player in Oakland history to strike out 40 times in one month...joins Rick Monday, who had 43 in August of 1968...is the fifth player in Oakland history to walk 30 times in a month, the first since Jason Giambi had 30 in June of 2000...had at least one walk or strikeout in each of his final 45 games beginning on August 11...that is the second longest such streak in Oakland history to a 50-game streak by Jose Canseco from October 6, 1985 to May 31, 1986...reached base safely via hit or walk in each of his final 24 games beginning on September 2...hit .300 with nine home runs and 20 RBI in 25 games with Triple-A Portland in the San Diego organization...that gave him 35 home runs and 102 RBI in 149 professional games in 2007...added 19 walks in the PCL for a .430 on-base percentage and struck out 29 times...went 3 for 26 (.115) with no RBI over his first eight games, 18 for 36 (.500) with eight home runs and 17 RBI over his next 10 games and 3 for 18 (.167) with one home run and three RBI over his final seven games...had three two-homer games with the Beavers (April 14 vs. Fresno, April 20 vs. Sacramento, April 23 at Colorado Springs). 2006 He signed as a Minor League free agent in December 2005. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Portland before his September callup. He had one hit in three at-bats for the Padres in 2006. He was one of the top Beavers hitters, third on the team with 77 RBIs, and second on the team in home runs with 30. 2005 Batted .257 with 19 home runs and 75 RBI in 134 games for Oakland's Triple-A Sacramento team...led the River Cats with 19 home runs and finished third with 75 RBI...2005 marked his first season without a trip to the Majors since 2000...batted .345 with six homers and 23 RBI in 29 games in May...batted .305 against left-handers while 16 of his 19 home runs and 55 of 75 RBI came against righties...drew a team-high 115 walks, which led the Pacific Coast League and ranked second in all of minor league baseball...had 29 multi-hit games including a season-high four-hit outing (4 for 6) on May 9 at Las Vegas...also drove in a season-high four runs in that game...had 16 multi-RBI contests. 2002 Spent the first four months of the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs and led Rockies' farmhands with 23 home runs...was named most valuable player of the Triple-A All-Star game after breaking a scoreless tie with a pinch-hit, two-run single in the sixth inning and later adding a solo home run... was recalled by Colorado Aug. 2 and made his Rockies debut that day at Chicago against the Cubs...hit a ninth-inning, game-tying, two-run home run off Cubs closer Antonio Alfonseca but the Rockies lost, 6-4, in 12 innings...became the sixth player to homer in his Rockies' debut...appeared in 35 games for Colorado and made 15 starts, all in left field...went 3 for 16 (.188) with one RBI as a pinch-hitter, but drew four walks...reached base safely in 87 of 105 games at Colorado Springs...batted .330 over his first 29 games but then hit .239 over his final 76 games...struck out at least one time in 16 consecutive games, April 6-23. 2004 Was on the Baltimore Orioles' Opening Day roster but appeared in just one game before he was sent to Triple-A Ottawa where he spent the remainder of the season...struck out as a pinch-hitter on April 7 against Boston and was designated for assignment on April 14...was assigned outright to Ottawa on April 16 and batted .235 with 17 home runs and 55 RBI in 102 games with the Lynx...was second on the club in RBI and tied for second in home runs...led the team and ranked fifth in the International League in walks (65)...also topped the club with 127 strikeouts...hit .249 with 15 of his 17 home runs against right handed pitchers compared to .164 against lefthanders...appeared in 67 games at designated hitter, 32 in left field and two in right field...was batting .214 over his first 39 games before connecting for a pinch-hit home run on June 12 against Syracuse in his only pinch-hitting appearance of the season...that began a 35-game stretch from June 12 to July 30 where he batted .325 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI...had his first of three five-RBI games on June 22 at Durham...had a season best 11-game hitting streak from July 6 to 22 (.412, five home runs, 14 RBI and 12 walks)...hit eight of his 17 home runs over a 14-game span from July 10 to 30...had 16 RBI over that stretch, including five RBI performances on July 10 at Indianapolis and July 20 against Louisville in the second game of a doubleheader...then hit .120 with 34 strikeouts in 22 games in August...went 0 for 23 over a six-game stretch from August 3 to 12 and 0 for 23 over a six-game stretch from August 23 to 28. 2001 Opened the season at AAA-Tucson, seeing his first career action above the AA level...Cust was named to the All-Pacific Coast League team as an outfielder at seasons end...he was also named to the AAA mid-season all-star team...with the AAA-Tucson Sidewinders, Cust batted .278 (123-for-442) with 24 doubles, two triples, 27 homers and 79 RBI in 135 games...in the PCL at year's end, he ranked first in walks (102), third in games played and on-base pct. (.415) and his home runs were the fourth most...with the 102 walks drawn in b01, he has compiled back-to-back 100-plus walk seasons; earning 117 free passes in 2000...with the Sidewinders, he had a season high 10-game hit streak from April 20-May 5...the ten-gamer saw his average raise from .319 to .395 at streaks end...during the streak, he batted .500 (19-for-38) with two doubles, a triple, three homers, scored nine runs and knocked in 12...as the cleanup hitter for Tucson, Cust was a .280 (77-for-275) hitter with 14 doubles, two triples and 19 homers...Jack was called up in September by the Diamondbacks, making his major league debut Sept. 26 vs. Milwaukee when he drew a walk as a pinch hitter...he appeared in only three games for Arizona, but did notch his first career hit in the season finale at Milwaukee, October 7 off Mark Leiter. 2003 Split the season between Triple-A Ottawa and the Major Leagues, having three separate stints with the Orioles...began the season at Ottawa and batted .190 with two home runs and seven RBI in his first 26 games...hit .317 with seven homers and 51 RBI over his final 71 games with the Lynx...led the International League with a .422 on-base percentage and 80 walks...ranked 10th among all minor leaguers in OBP...did not appear in a game for the Orioles during his first two call-ups from May 24 to 27 and July 11 to 21...was recalled for the third time on August 5 and stayed with the Orioles for the remainder of the season...at Ottawa, reached base via hit or walk in 91 of 97 games...reached base safely via hit or walk in 32 straight games, June 12 to July 29...in his second game with the Orioles on August 7, hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in a 5-3 win over Minnesota...appeared in only nine games (six starts) from August 17 until the final week of the season, going 3 for 20 with 11 strikeouts...hit safely in seven of his final 10 games, batting .429 to lift his average from .156 to a season-ending .260...made only one appearance in the field with the Orioles, playing the final five innings in left field on September 13 at Toronto. 2000 Jack reached AA-El Paso in only his fourth professional season...he was named to the Texas League all-star team as an outfielder and also played in the Futures All-Star game held in Atlanta prior to the Major League All-Star game...with El Paso, he led the league in walks (117) and strikeouts (150), finished second in on-base pct. (.440) and fourth in runs (100)...in the month of April, he batted .373 (25-for-67) with a pair of doubles and triples, adding seven homers and 21 RBI...his April numbers earned him Arizona's Minor League Player-of-the-Month award...Cust also earned the Texas League Player-of-the-Week award for his performance from June 26-July 2 when he hit .529 (9-for-17) with four doubles, a triple, homer and eight RBI in only five contests...he reached base in 115 of the 129 games he saw action in...on the year, he had 28 multi-hit contests (17 two-hitters, eight three-hitters and three four-hitters)...in the playoffs vs. Round Rock, Cust went 4-for-14, a .286 average, with with four RBI and two homers. 1999 Jack was named Arizona's organizational Minor League Player-of-the-Year for his efforts at High Desert (A)...led the California League in homers (32), on-base pct. (.450) and slugging pct. (.651)...he finished second in average (.334), extra-base hits (77), runs (107) and total bases (296)...his home run per AB ratio was also the highest in the league at one homer per every 14.22 at-bats...his final stat line at the end of the year earned him a spot on the California League all-star team. 1998 Opened the season at South Bend (A), but was sent to Lethbridge after 16 games...with Lethbridge, he batted .345 (77-for-223) in 73 contests...he led the Pioneer League in walks (86), on-base pct. (.530) and runs scored with 75...in July, he batted .404 with seven homers, knocked in 30 runs and was named Arizona's Minor League Player-of-the-Monthb&at season's end, he was named to the league's all-star team and Topps Class A Short Season/Rookie League All-Star team...career highs in games, at bats (481), runs, hits (111), doubles (19), home runs, walks, strikeouts and total bases, but his .231 batting average, .375 on-base percentage and .476 slugging percentage dropped off from his .256/.408/.504 last year when he had his first significant playing time in the majors...batted .220 at night and .229 against right-handed pitching...had the second lowest night batting average in the AL and third lowest mark against righties...hit .172 with runners in scoring position and two outs...20 of his 33 home runs came with the bases empty and the other 13 were two-run shots...25 came off right-handers as have 49 of his 64 career home runs...20 came in Oakland and 18 were hit with no outs, which tied for the AL lead...12 came in the seventh inning or later and seven came against Texas...12 gave the A's the lead and another three tied the game...started 77 games in left field and 61 at designated hitter, both of which led the A's...also made five starts in right field and was 0 for 2 with three walks as a pinch hitter...hit .207 with 17 home runs and 30 RBI as the DH...started games in each spot of the order from three through six and led the A's with 62 starts batting third and 46 hitting clean-up...hit just .198 when hitting third, which was the lowest mark from the three spot in the majors, and .216 hitting fourth, which was second lowest in the majors...hit .297 when batting fifth and .361 when hitting sixth. 1997 His first professional season saw Cust bat .306 (37-for-121) in 35 games...he led his team, the Rookie League Diamondbacks, with a .488 slugging pct....the SLG pct. was also second best in the Arizona League.