Hi, my name is louismg, and I have a problem. I really like Jack Cust.
When he strides to the plate, I find the way he taps his bat on his left shoulder fascinating. From my perspective, in sections 112, or 114, or wherever the A's put me that day, I can see the stickiness of the pine tar lift his jersey ever so slightly between taps, as he methodically judges each pitch, ready to take it for a ball, or instead, to lash at it with a ferocity not seen here in Oakland since Mark McGwire.
Jack Cust, despite already being a legend on AN, came seemingly out of nowhere to swat 26 home runs last year, and was, without question, the A's best hitter.
In 2008, he has shown 2007 was no fluke. While he doesn't look like a 40 HR, 100+ RBI monster, he's very quietly posted a .889 OPS, leads the team in runs, with 34, home runs, with 11, and leads the entire American League in walks, with 50, in only 60 games.
Does he strike out a lot? Sure. But if you ask me, I'd rather see a guy who strikes out than one who routinely hits into double plays (cough * Zook * cough). And when he does connect, it can be tremendous. This last Friday and Saturday, in what were a pair of annoying losses to the Angels, I saw Cust hit an absolute bomb in both contests. The ball didn't just squeak over the fence, it was flat-out crushed. Only a healthy Frank Thomas can match Cust when it comes to sheer power on this team.
During yesterday's 8-4 win against the Yankees, Cust broke out of his "three true outcomes" mold, adding two singles and 3 RBI to his customary two walks. The Yankees couldn't get him out in any of his four plate appearances, and after starting off the year slow, he's been a force to be reckoned with. Cust posted a .303 average in May, and has a .300 average so far in June, with his OPS measuring 1.004 and 1.095 in each month respectively.
But Cust, despite the occasional bobble, is more than just a bat. I have a great deal of confidence in Cust's outfield work, from what I've seen live and on the TV. In yesterday's contest, we saw Jason Giambi beat the Giambi shift by poking a ball to left field off the end of the bat. Cust put on his best Rickey Henderson impersonation and raced across the field to get to it, and came up short, but he never should have been expected to get the ball. While Cust might look like a slow, plodding outfielder, he's not, and he's improving with each game as he gets accustomed to being in the field and not solely used as a DH.
Just last Tuesday, we even saw Cust turn on the afterburners to beat out an infield single and win the game against the Tigers. He may never have stolen a base, but a lesser player wouldn't have been safe on that play.
So why this Custian valentine? Because sometimes, we don't know how good we have it. Cust's .889 OPS is good enough for 8th in the American League, and he's barely drawing more than the major league minimum. As A's fans, we're incredibly lucky to have this guy on our team, a guy who was days away from leaving MLB forever to play in Japan. So tonight... when you see Cust and the rest of the team take on the Yankees in an attempt to garner the series win, think about how this guy, making the minimum, has more home runs than A-Rod, who's making the maximum. Think about how this guy has as many walks as Jason Giambi and A-Rod combined, and think about how glad we are he's on our team.
Game time and hero worship is at 7:05 PDT. We'll be here.
5 recs | 66 comments
I AM SPARTACUST!
monkeyball - June 12, 2008
I AM SPARTACUST.
Will the REAL Spartacust please…stand up…
Derwood13 - June 12, 2008
I'm Spartacust.
(drinks Pepsi)
FormerHuntsvilleStar - June 12, 2008
I AM SPARTICUST?
Stop Immartaining me.
Zonis - June 12, 2008
Am I SPARTACUST?
mikev - June 12, 2008
Spartacust am I.
Actually, that would make him YodaCust…
Derwood13 - June 12, 2008
I am Spartacust. I am Spartacust. Spartacust I am.
JediLeroy - June 12, 2008
Spartacust the Eighth, I am, I am. Spartacust the Eighth, I am.
Ice Cream - June 12, 2008
2nd at bat
same as the first!
5Aces - June 12, 2008
that Spartacust I am
I do not like green eggs and ham!
MobiusKlein - June 12, 2008
Who is SPARTACUST?
Why is SPARTACUST here?
And that would be StockdaleCust.
5Aces - June 12, 2008
"Hi, I'm Louis [HI LOUIS!] ... and I'm a Custaholic."
The Dogfather - June 12, 2008
I've been Cust free for 18 hours
I don’t know if I can make it a full day.
louismg - June 12, 2008
I don't have a problem
I only watch Cust on evenings and weekends, and if I have to go a day or two without watching Cust it’s not a big deal to me.
andeux - June 12, 2008
I hide Cust in secretive locations around the house
monkeyball - June 12, 2008
One P.A. at a time...
The Dogfather - June 12, 2008
{brandishes trading chip}
monkeyball - June 12, 2008
Okay -- SO IF HE HITS ONE TONIGHT, WILL YOU STAND AND DELIVER?
It could start something like the Marco cheer…
The Dogfather - June 12, 2008
Cust's defense
Cust isn’t completly horrible defensivly as most people believe. He certainly is below average, he has meh hands, he is not fast, and doesn’t take the greatest routes to the ball, but he makes the routine plays that are expected of an all bat left fielder.
The thing is, when I say he makes the routine plays, I mean that when he TRIES to play the outfield. I mean tries. When he gets complacant, he becomes a horrible outfielder. That is why, I think, we see a very steady pattern out there. Cust looks good, supprises us, gets used to being out there, then makes a COMPLETLY bonehead play, and the cycle repeats. He has to be constantly reminded that he is a DH playing LF and thus needs to try extra hard when playing the field. When he forgets this, he falls apart defensivly.
Because to be honest, when Cust is trying, I’d rather him out there than Emil Brown defensivly. Which granted, isn’t saying much.
Zonis - June 12, 2008
You bastahd!
Have your forgotten the basic rules of AN?
1.) It’s Macha’s fault if your hitters don’t.
2.) Cust sucks
3.) I know more than you (for any given I)
4.) We’re doomed, and this team sucks.
I like players who seem to enjoy the fact that they’re playing ball. Cust does. I have no idea what it would feel like to be able to poke a home run, but I also enjoy watching Cust play
As Fan in the Bronx - June 12, 2008
#4 is WE'RE ALL GUNNA DIE!
3 is I know better, because I am a pessimist.Zonis - June 12, 2008
nice write up!
thanks for putting things into perspective when it comes to Cust. He is one of my fav players on the team. I don’t have a problem with the K’s, but I do sometimes wish he’d be a little more aggressive at the plate. I bet he leads the league in strike outs looking.
sf drift king - June 12, 2008
I don't have a problem with the Ks either
When you’re getting on base on a .418 clip, who cares how the other .582 happens?
FormerHuntsvilleStar - June 12, 2008
Sac Fly?
Just saying, it does matter a bit.
MobiusKlein - June 12, 2008
Ironically, when Cust is TRYING to sac fly, he's actually quite good at it
He’s easily caricatured, but he’s a better situational hitter than he is usually given credit for.
PaulThomas - June 12, 2008
if you are going to make an out
better K than GIDP, I agree with louismg. Especially now that he’s hitting in front of Chavez, if Chavez can keep up a good average with extra base threat, Cust is in the perfect situation.
asfansince1989 - June 12, 2008
Cust!
mikeA - June 12, 2008
Feeling great? Rosterbate!
A’s Lineup, June Stats
Stats: OBP/SLG/AVG (because MLB.com arranges their stats stupidly)
DH Hannahan – .297 .364 .242
SS Crosby – .357 .395 .289
LF Cust – .462 .633 .300
3B Chavez – .355 .464 .286
2B Ellis – .333 .486 .270
CF Gonzalez – .278 .429 .257
1B Barton – .395 .485 .303
LF Buck – .300 .424 .152
C1 Suzuki – .375 .321 .286
Interesting notes:
Despite his suckiness, Suzuki is not doing completly bad this month. He has a high OBP, and a decent average. Its just that his Power has dropped below Kendall-esque.
Hannahan isn’t doing very well, despite appearances.
Cust is a monster.
Chavez is healthy.
Ellis is a power hitter.
Barton has broken out.
Buck is sucking complete ass.
Zonis - June 12, 2008
so,
do we send Buck down when Ry Sweeney’s healthy?
sf drift king - June 12, 2008
I still say we DFA Brown
He’s the worst OF we have on the team, and is not in the teams plans at all.
Zonis - June 12, 2008
Nice Homage to Jack Cust!
No one likes my “Jacque Cust-Oh!” posts, but that’s ok. Or the “Cust-odian Blast!” posts.
I enjoy the “barrage” of stuff that hits AN every time Jack comes through.
I do pull for Jack, and I’m sincerely very happy he has succeeded at the major league level. And, very happy BillyB went out and got him. Even Milton Bradley said Beane was a “genious” for getting him!!
One won lost won - June 12, 2008
What does Milton say about Beane running him out of town?
asfansince1989 - June 12, 2008
Remember when people used to write things like this...
...about Eric Chavez?
Just sayin’. coughtradecough
Ozzz - June 12, 2008
Hey now
Chavez is coming back from injury and seems to be hitting better now. Hopefully he’ll get back to full pre-injury levels and we can be happy about his 30/100 type year.
tomoyo - June 12, 2008
Maybe they did?
So your recommendation is to trade one of the top 10 OPS players in the league who is making just over the minimum? And for what? Prospects? Is this a case of sell high, in your estimation?
louismg - June 12, 2008
No no.
No trade Cust.
Trading a guy making the minimum, who can hit, would be foolish.
Trading a guy making $11m a year who can barely do star-jumps without popping a disc out his back like a Masters of the Universe action figure… I’d be cool with that.
Ozzz - June 12, 2008
that he's a good player?
That’s where the similarities end, as far as I can tell… So… we should trade good players because maybe in the future they’ll be not as good.
mikeA - June 12, 2008
Dude.
If you think Chavez has turned some corner after four years getting worse and worse, more power to your optimistic self.
Me? I’ve been dying for a two or three week spurt of form by the guy so we can get some lamebrained GM out there to take over his salary, thus freeing us to KEEP Cust when his contract is up for renewal.
Ozzz - June 13, 2008
Chavy's pop up behind home plate tonight
reminded me of the old days… when he use to do it more routinely, ie, dude’s got his swing back. Trade him to the highest bidder.
sf drift king - June 13, 2008
Yes, because players never improve
after major medical procedures designed to improve them.
Ever.
Lose the tone of certainty. Seriously. It’s obnoxious, and you have no f*ing clue what you’re talking about.
PaulThomas - June 13, 2008
You seem rather 'certain' about that.
And really, to be called obnoxious by PaulThomas… well, it’s like having Bill Bavasi tell me I’m not qualified to run a ball team.
Yeah. Medical procedures ‘can’ help improve a player. But if you’re expecting three medical procedures at once to all work at their maximum potential, you’re dreaming.
Wrists? Great! Shoulder? Great! Back? Uhh…
Ozzz - June 13, 2008
I'm quite certain that you haven't seen Eric Chavez's medical records, yes
Furnish proof that you have, and I’ll eat my words.
They don’t need to “all work at once at their maximum potential.” That’s why your comments about Eric Chavez have been so silly. They have to raise his EqA from last season—last season, when he was hobbled to the point of total debility—by .003, to make him a league-average hitter. Point oh oh three.
I’m willing to guess that the “maximum potential” of those surgeries was a little more than .001 each.
PaulThomas - June 13, 2008
Several things.
I don’t need to see his medical records to know he had three different procedures done. The team, the player, and Stevie Wonder knows that happened.
Perhaps your gauge of success is that Chavez become ‘league average’ as a hitter. Mine is that he becomes BETTER than league average as a hitter AND gets his five-star defense back AND hits for legitimate power. After all, that’s what he’s paid a large part of the team’s entire payroll for – not ‘league average hitting’.
And lastly, if just one of those surgeries came to little success (such as his back surgery, for example) then the rest count for diddly squat.
I’d rather another team take the gamble, especially if it freed up enough cash to keep someone who actually can play hard, like say Huston Street.
Ozzz - June 13, 2008
So, you know he had three procedures done
and you made the jump from that to “they failed/are going to fail” through… what, intuition? Telesthesis? PsiCorps?
Nice change of argument on the hitting. A little while ago it was “he can’t hit through rice paper.” Now being average isn’t good enough. OK. Apparently 50% of players in Major League Baseball can’t hit their way through rice paper. Well, you learn something new every day, huh.
It’s not really the arguments you’ve made that are inducing this derision from me, it’s the coating of ludicrous statements that you feel compelled to wrap them in.
PaulThomas - June 13, 2008
I had the same confusion as louismg
mikeA - June 13, 2008
You mean, like
one week ago?
Chavez looks great right now. Considering the patent lack of options in the minor league system at third, a trade would seem to be unwise (unless it’s so obviously one-sided that you can’t refuse it).
PaulThomas - June 12, 2008
Small sample size.
Chavez hitting decently for a week is the PERFECT time to cash in on him, before his back snaps, wrists come unhinged, and head explodes.
Ozzz - June 13, 2008
I, too, have an unhealthy affection for Jack Cust
Hence the shirt, which I actually have on right now (and no, it’s not black):
thejd44 - June 12, 2008
I had always thought you were going for some kind of Raiders/A's thing.
mikeA - June 12, 2008
Oh, this won't be a popular opinion here
But I can’t stand the Raiders.
thejd44 - June 12, 2008
Cosigned.
mikev - June 12, 2008
+1
but I still prefer to watch them over any other football team on tv and tv only. it must be the fans i can’t stand and not the team.
sf drift king - June 12, 2008
That's like me and the Red Sox...
(Well, not the “over any other team” part. Obviously. But they’re a fun team to watch. It’s just the fans and the media coverage that gets me.)
PaulThomas - June 12, 2008
Agreed
I actually like quite a few of the Red Sox players. And I love Fenway.
And I also just don’t care for “Raiders fans,” but I say that like I said I don’t like Cubs fans. It’s not all the fans, but grown ass men who dress up in scary costumes and try to act like tough guys at football games are a joke. As are people who still don’t realize that the referees not only got the “tuck rule” (even though there’s no such rule called that) call right, but that they missed a 15 yard hit to the head on the QB penatly on the very same play.
thejd44 - June 12, 2008
I'm not a Raiders fan,
but I must disagree re: that call, especially since it was not even called on the field.
mikeA - June 12, 2008
Eh, I've debated it too much, but according to the rules in place at the time
And the rules they STILL have in place. It was the right call. The point of the rule is to take the judgment out of the official’s mind. It’s black and white to prevent the “what was the QB’s intent” argument.
But, the real point is that the call should have been moot because Brady was hit in the head on the play. The 15 yard penalty would have preceded the fumble/forward pass call, and the Patriots would’ve kept the ball.
The other important point: It was 7 years ago. People need to get over it. It’s not like it was Jorge Orta in the World Series or anything.
thejd44 - June 12, 2008
awesome
debating the tuck rule on AN 7 years later. How can I not resond? What about the fact that the ball actually came all the way back down, tapped Brady’e left hand and was going back up when the fumble happened? that call was horseshit. Did Brady get hit in the head on that play? Good. Screw NY Jr. (Boston). I’m over it though, as you can tell.
Go Oak-town
floodzone - June 12, 2008
I can't stand football
monkeyball - June 12, 2008
You had me until "occasional bobble."
I really like Cust’s offense, too - but I’ve known outfielders, outfielders have been my friends, and Jack Cust, sir, is.no.outfielder. He’s slow, tentative and has hands of iron - but at least his arm has the potential to someday achieve mediocrity.
I mean to say, c’mon …
The Dogfather - June 12, 2008
I'd rather have him in the OF
Than Frank Thomas. I’d rather have him in the OF than Emil Brown on some days… just watch his effort out there. Way better than Barry Bonds. :-)
louismg - June 12, 2008
I think I'd rather have H2A3N3 in the OF, however, if we're conducting amateur tryouts.
Faster, experienced mitt, better arm, etc. I just have this impression that Jack spends half his time praying for grounders, and the other half looking like this:
The Dogfather - June 12, 2008
when will u guys get it.
Cust is in the outfield because of necessity. He will never be an outfielder. He’d still be our full-time DH if we had not picked up F.Thomas / M. Sweeney.
sf drift king - June 13, 2008
"a guy who was days away from leaving MLB forever "
or was it just 20 minutes?
SwisherThresher - June 12, 2008
I was going to say hours...
But figured days was safer. :-)
louismg - June 12, 2008
Great post. Cust is a major asset to this team especially
from an economic standpoint. Homerun power is very important to this light hitting team and thank God we at least have the threat with Cust. Combine Frank, Chavy and Cust in the lineup and I believe this team will give us a run for the AL West title.
“Cust is a PLUS!”
ohtobe21likehuston - June 12, 2008
And he is a good Dude
Last time the A’s were down here in Anaheim, my son and I got there early for BP. We hung out for awhile by the left foul pole, hoping for a ball and, as BP was wrapping up and we were about to go to our seats, Cust walks up out of nowhere, asks how we are doing, and hands my son his batting glove.
Class Dude.
easyraider - June 13, 2008
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