Phillies Dangle Family in Front of Jack Cust’s Nose, Yank it Away

Jack Cust left Seattle with the rest of his life ahead of him.  A week after being rejected by one of the weaker sports franchises in the Pacific Northwest, Jack was nestled into a comfortable new life arranged by Ruben Amaro.  He had a team to play with, the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, he had a strong Major League affiliate to sneak onto, he hit from the side of the plate where the Phillies were weakest off the bench.

It was assumed that when they needed a left-handed bat for the playoffs, Jack would be that left hand with a professional baseball player attached to it.  His family lived nearby in Jersey and after years of what could have only been weak communication efforts from the Pacific Northwest, he was finally able to repair the horrible rift that had torn open between them.

Yes, for six days, it was pretty good to be Jack Cust:  Hitting .250.  Socking a home run.  Finally putting years of familial affliction behind him by showing up in time for dinner.  Was it a little too much for his family to assume he’d be home for dinner in New Jersey every night, even though he was playing a pro sports team from Seattle?  It could have been.  But the important thing is, he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.  The Phillies had handed him a dream, and all he had to do was sleep left-handed.

And just like that, it was gone.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha!” Ruben Amaro bellowed with laughter while standing on the top of the Comcast Building during a violent thunder storm, his fists punching rain.

Was it general sadism or an actual reason that the Phillies released Jack six days after allowing him to achieve his dream of both playing pro ball and not destroying his family?  We’ll probably never know.  That’s why speculation is so much fun.

The point is, he’s gone, and you’re just going to have to accept it.  That leaves our left-handed-off-the-bench-ness with Brandon Moss.  No word yet on how close he is with his family.