If you wanted to know the whereabouts of Jack Cust, Jr. on September 26, 2001, there was only one place you needed to look.

On top of the world.

It was then that he'd make his Major League debut, walking in his first at-bat against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Just 22 years old, Cust got his first taste of the life he'd dreamed of as a little boy growing up in Flemington, getting into two more games for a Diamondbacks team that would eventually go on to win the World Series.

An All-Star at every level of the minor leagues for Arizona, Cust thought he was destined to be a big part of their future.

"I came up with them, you always think you're going to play with the team that drafted you," Cust said.

However, the Diamondbacks had other plans, sending Cust and catcher J.D. Closser to the Colorado Rockies for reliever Mike Myers three months before the start of the 2002 season.

"At the time, I definitely thought I'd play with them for a while. But that didn't work out, and it kind of led me on a path to a few different teams over the past five years."

Six years and four organizations later, and the now 28-year-old "can't miss prospect" that missed is fighting for a job with the San Diego Padres this spring.

It could be his best chance to stick in the big leagues.

It could also be his last.

In the off-season, Cust still spends a lot of time in the area, working at the Flemington-based baseball academy that bears his name.

"It's a tremendous benefit to have him there," said his father, Jack Cust, Sr., who co-founded and co-owns the academy with his son.

What started out as a small warehouse to keep his son busy has turned into a nationally known academy that has become the place to go to for top local talent to improve their game.

The academy had 12 players drafted out of it last season, including the Orioles ninth overall pick, 18-year-old Pennsauken native Bill Rowell. Rowell, listed as the Orioles top prospect by Baseball America, was the first high school hitter taken in the draft.

"You get a chance to see all the kids coming up in the area," Cust, Jr. said. "It's nice to see them get scholarships and then go on to play pro ball."

With his Major League success, Cust has turned into a popular attraction.

"People come in there all the time and ask for Jack," said Travis Anderson, who plays for the Somerset Patriots and works at the academy in the off-season.

"It's nice to know that with his name on the building, he's always there. Whenever he has time to say hi to the kids, he always does."

As for Cust, he credits the academy for fine-tuning his game during the winter.

"It reinforces things you learned when you were younger. It definitely helps," he said.

Cust's journey never seemed like it would be this difficult.

He starred at Immaculata High School in Somerville under longtime coach Tom Gambino, who said Cust is one of the best players he's ever had in nearly 20 years as the team's skipper.

"He was a player that could basically do anything," said Gambino, who noted Cust played in the outfield, at first base and even pitched when he was asked to.

Cust, a standout for the Spartans from 1994 to 1997, exhibited the same patience at the plate then that he's known for now.

"Jack had an unbelievable eye," Gambino said. "He was the type of kid where if he saw two hittable pitches all game, he'd crush them."

Scouts started coming in droves midway through Cust's junior season, where he was becoming legendary for his tape measure blasts.

"Every game, there'd be 15 or 16 guys watching him. Scouts, cross-checkers, you name it," Gambino said.

Picked 30th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1997, he progressed quickly through the levels of minor league baseball, tearing the cover off the ball at every stop.

For four consecutive years, Cust was named an All-Star, all while moving up a level each season. His finest year came in 1999 for Single-A High Desert, where he hit .334 with 32 home runs and 112 RBI.

The following season, he participated in the Futures Game, playing for the United States team in Major League Baseball's prospect showcase held during the All-Star break.

Scouts already knew what Cust could do, but he was starting to impress his teammates as well.

"Jack and I didn't really play too much together, I was either hurt or a level ahead of him for the most part," admitted Nick Bierbrodt, briefly Jack's teammate with Double-A El Paso in 2000 and Triple-A Tucson in 2001

"The time we did play together though, he was a very gifted hitter with a great eye and good power, which is a pretty rare thing."

While the Diamondbacks took notice and promoted him to the highest level at the end of 2001, other teams were interested as well and viewed him as someone that could help out at the Major League level.

After winning a World Series ring that he's still never received, Cust was dealt to the Rockies and spent the first four months of the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs before being called up in August.

But after only batting .169 in 65 at-bats, the Rockies traded him to the Orioles during Spring Training the following season. The story seemed to repeat itself in 2003, with Cust putting up solid numbers for Triple-A Ottawa for four months before again earning a call-up in August.

This time, he performed much better, hitting .260 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 73 at-bats.

Baltimore agreed, and Cust made the 2004 Orioles out of camp, the first time he'd started a season in the big leagues.

Since then, he's had four Major League at-bats in the past three years, including just one April 7th strikeout with that Orioles team.

"It's definitely frustrating," said Cust of not being able to stick at the highest level.

"I keep going out there every year and trying my best, but it keeps you hungry and determined to keep getting better."

While his laundry list of minor league accomplishments are nice, every player sets out to stick in the big leagues, and Cust isn't sure how much more minor league baseball he wants to play.

"It's hard to say, I love playing but I've said before I don't know if I could do it much longer. But you don't know until you're in that situation," he said.

The other three big league at-bats that Cust got were with the Padres, where he signed as a free agent following the 2005 season.

"I've had a little fondness for Jack and his discipline at the plate for a while," said Grady Fuson, farm director for the San Diego Padres.

"His power and discipline have always been his strong suits."

Fuson detailed a "four man mix" for the fourth outfield spot in San Diego. He listed Terrmel Sledge, Paul McAnulty and Jose Cruz, Jr. as Cust's competition for the coveted last spot.

Sledge is primarily a corner outfielder who spent the majority of last season as a teammate of Cust's in Triple-A, although he did play sparingly in 38 games with San Diego. He's also the answer to a trivia question, as he has the distinction of hitting the first home run in Washington Nationals history.

Cruz is a 32-year-old who was a big prospect in the mid-90's with the Seattle Mariners. Although he never quite fulfilled his potential, he's had a fairly successful Major League career. Now a ten-year veteran, he has 198 big league home runs to his name, as well as seven teams. A journeyman with some pop, average speed and extensive big league time in center field, the job appears to be his to lose.

As for McAnulty, he profiles very similarly to Cust. A player well known for his minor league accomplishments and lauded for his swing and plate discipline, the Padres are contemplating switching the natural first baseman to the outfield. Like Cust, his bat is his ticket to the big leagues, although he's hit just .216 in two short looks at the big league level over the past two seasons.

While he appears to have every opportunity to win a job this spring, the Padres are being realistic about Cust's chances.

"When you think about a fourth outfielder, you think about someone with a little more versatility," Fuson said. "You want someone who can play the corners and a little bit of center as well."

However, if Cust doesn't make the team, he becomes a free agent, something he thinks may be an advantage considering the Padres would be unwise to lose him for no compensation.

"I've been on teams where I've hit .400 in Spring Training and hit home runs, and I've been sent down because I had options," he said.

"But hopefully this is the right spot for me. If not, then hopefully some other teams will be interested. But right now, I'm trying to focus on this team and trying to stay in the moment. But I think I could definitely have a starting role somewhere."

Whether it's with the Padres or elsewhere, Cust is already feeling the strain of yet another year of trying to crack a Major League roster.

"I have to try and win a job, so there's pressure," he said. "But there's always pressure, I always put pressure on myself to perform."

Still, the Padres are behind Cust and believe he can make an impact at the highest level.

"I hope Jack has a great spring and makes the decision very difficult on everyone," Fuson said.