Cust was born to Jack, Sr. and Faith Cust. His father had played for the Seton Hall Pirates baseball team which went to the 1974 College World Series and his brothers, Kevin and Mike, both played minor league baseball. Cust attended Immaculata High School in Somerville, New Jersey. In 1997, he was first-team High School All-American at first base. Cust initially committed to play college baseball for the Alabama Crimson Tide.\n', '

In 1997, Cust, out of high school, was the first round draft pick (30th overall) of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and had a .447 on-base percentage in 35 games in the Rookie League. Cust was a Pioneer League All-Star in 1998, where he led the league in walks (86), on-base percentage (.530), and runs scored (75). In 1999, he led the California League in homers (32), on-base percentage (.450), and slugging percentage (.651), and was Baseball America\'s 1st team Minor League All-Star DH, California League All-Star, and the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year. \n', 'In 2000, he had a .440 on-base percentage at El Paso in the Texas League while leading the league in walks (117) and strikeouts (150).\n', '

In 2001, he was a Pacific Coast League All-Star while leading the league with 102 walks, and in 2002 he was the Triple-A All-Star Game MVP. In 2006, 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 19 at-bats, struck out once every 3 at-bats, and earned 1 walk per game.[citation needed]\n', '

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