This is Part 4 of a 13-part series examining the 65 men who have collected exactly one hit as a member of the San Diego Padres. The current installment includes a designated hitter trapped in the National League, a future Padres minor-league manager, a player who clashed with Larry Bowa (could I be more specific?), a man who once was part of a trade involving the current Padres bullpen coach, and the precursor to Brooks Kieschnick that never quite materialized.
Jack Cust
Pos: OF Years: 2006 G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS+ 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .333 79
Taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the 1997 draft (three picks after the Padres blew theirs on Kevin Nicholson), Cust made an immediate impact in the minor leagues. In his first season of full-season ball, in the rarefied air of Adelanto (High Desert), Cust ranked among California League leaders in virtually every meaningful offensive category, finishing with a ridiculous .334/.450/.651 line. Cust continued to hit wherever he went, but his lack of a defensive position kept him from getting more than a few cups of coffee in the big leagues.
The Padres signed Cust in December 2005. Playing every day at Triple-A Portland, the 27-year-old from New Jersey hit .293/.467/.549. Cust was recalled when rosters expanded and made his Padres debut on September 9, 2006. Pinch-hitting for David Wells, Cust led off the sixth inning with a line single to right field against Giants right-hander Jason Schmidt. Cust later scored on a two-out Todd Walker single that cut San Diego’s deficit to 4-1. The Padres would eventually tie the game before losing in extra innings.
In May 2007, Cust was traded to Oakland, where he blossomed into the DH he was meant to be.
Doug Dascenzo
Pos: OF Years: 1996 G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS+ 21 9 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .111 .200 .111 -13
The Chicago Cubs tabbed Dascenzo in the 12th round of the 1985 draft, two picks after the Padres took Jerald Clark. (This is the year San Diego forfeited its first-round pick to the Cubs as compensation for signing the execrable Tim Stoddard; that pick, as I’ve detailed elsewhere, turned into Rafael Palmeiro.) Dascenzo spent parts of five seasons as a reserve outfielder for the Cubs, suffered through a miserable ’93 campaign in Texas, languished in the minors for two years, and then re-emerged briefly with the Padres in ’96.
Dascenzo, then 32, came up in August 1996, serving primarily as a pinch-runner and late inning defensive replacement. On August 8, at Pittsburgh, Dascenzo collected his only hit as a member of the Padres and the final one of his career, singling to center off southpaw Matt Rubel and scoring the ninth run in a 12-3 victory.
Dascenzo currently serves as manager of the Padres Double-A affiliate in San Antonio.
Storm Davis
Pos: RHP Years: 1987 G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS+ 21 16 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 .063 .063 .063 -66
Davis was sort of like Chan Ho Park in that he had a nice, shiny winning percentage despite being a mostly mediocre pitcher:
IP WPct ERA+ Davis 1780.2 .541 99 Park 1993.0 .559 97
Taken by Baltimore two picks after the Royals snagged Craig Lefferts (who didn’t sign) in the seventh round of the 1979 draft, Davis reached Double-A by age 19 and the big leagues a year later. After going 61-43 with a 3.63 ERA (110 ERA+) in six years with the Orioles, Davis came to San Diego in an October 1986 trade that saw Terry Kennedy and Mark Williamson head east. To say that Davis’ Padres tenure didn’t go well would be to understate the situation. Shortly before being shipped off to Oakland toward the end of his first season in San Diego, Davis clashed with his manager, the excitable Larry Bowa, who famously quipped, “I think that sometimes he thinks that logo across our chest means Storm Davis instead of San Diego.”
Before things went from bad to worse, Davis managed to collect the only hit of his big-league career. On April 20, 1987, in front of 11,295 at Jack Murphy Stadium, Davis grounded an infield single off Reds left-hander Guy Hoffman. Davis took second on an errant throw by second baseman Ron Oester and later scored on a Joey Cora single that tied the game, 2-2, after two innings. Davis wouldn’t survive the fourth inning, as the Padres ended up losing, 12-3. Four pitchers worked in relief of Davis that night… including Lefferts.
Brian Dorsett
Pos: 1B Years: 1991 G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS+ 11 12 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 .083 .083 .083 -53
The A’s took Dorsett in the forgettable 10th round of the 1983 June draft (he and Santa Clara left-hander Roger Samuels were the only players to reach the big leagues). Dorsett came out of Indiana State, which produced left-hander Zane Smith and, more famously, basketball’s Larry Bird. Dorsett spent parts of eight seasons with six different teams (he was a one-hit wonder for the Angels as well), hitting .224/.281/.326 (62 OPS+) in 163 games.
Dorsett, who once was traded with current Padres bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds for Tony Bernazard, signed with San Diego as a free agent in January 1991. On June 11, against the Cardinals, Dorsett came to bat for reliever John Costello. With two out in the bottom of the ninth and his team down, 10-3, Dorsett legged out an infield single off southpaw Juan Agosto that drove home Benito Santiago.
Mike Dupree
Pos: RHP Years: 1976 G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K BA OBP SLG OPS+ 12 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 491
The Padres selected Dupree in the fourth round of the 1976 January draft (they took Dave Wehrmeister with their first-round pick, which may help explain why the January draft no longer exists) out of Fresno City College (Ted Lilly). Dupree had an unusual minor-league career in that he played the outfield and pitched. In 1975, at Double-A Alexandria, Dupree hit .266/.333/.309 in 465 plate appearances and pitched 14 games in relief. In 1977, at Triple-A Hawaii, he hit .352/.369/.444 in 113 trips to the plate while making 33 appearances out of the Islanders bullpen (and three starts).
Between those two seasons, the would-be original Brooks Kieschnick made 12 lackluster relief appearances (9.19 ERA, 37 ERA+) in his one and only big-league stint. On April 13, 1976, in his Padres debut, Dupree worked in relief of right-hander Brent Strom. In the eighth inning, with his team leading, 7-2, Dupree knocked a two-out single to center off Dodgers knuckleballer Charlie Hough. Two batters later, Dupree scored on a Tito Fuentes single. Dupree and Butch Metzger tried to give the lead back in the ninth, but the Padres held on for the 8-5 win.
Five weeks later, Dupree was back in the minors. He remained in the Padres organization through 1979 but never returned to San Diego. He did, however, retire with a perfect batting line in the big leagues.
One caveat about Dascenzo – he may have only had one hit, but he did have a memorable moment as a member of the Padres.
In the 8th inning of clinching game vs. the Dodgers in ’96, Dascenzo was sent in to pinch run for professional pinch hitter Scott Livingstone. The game is tied 0-0. Gwynn walked to move Dascenzo to 2B, and Finley followed with a ground ball single through the infield.
The 3B coach waves Dascenzo around, but he was so blatantly out at the plate. He even tried a strange cannonball maneuver to bowl over Mike Piazza. It failed, looking more like a child trying to knock over a professional wrestler.
As some will remember, CHRIS Gwynn later had a 2 run 11th inning pinch hit single that clinched the division (giving the Dodgers the wildcard).