{{Short description|Cuban baseball player (1937–2025)}} {{family name hatnote|Seguí|González|lang=Spanish}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Diego Seguí | position = Pitcher | image = Diego Seguí 1969.jpg | caption = Seguí in 1969 | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|8|17}} | birth_place = Holguín, Cuba | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|6|24|1937|8|17}} | death_place = Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | bats = Right | throws = Right | debutleague = MLB | debutdate = April 12 | debutyear = 1962 | debutteam = Kansas City Athletics | finalleague = MLB | finaldate = September 24 | finalyear = 1977 | finalteam = Seattle Mariners | statleague = MLB | stat1label = Win–loss record | stat1value = 92–111 | stat2label = Earned run average | stat2value = 3.81 | stat3label = Strikeouts | stat3value = 1,298 | stat4label = Saves | stat4value = 71 | teams = * Kansas City Athletics ({{baseball year|1962}}–{{baseball year|1965}}) * Washington Senators ({{baseball year|1966}}) * Kansas City / Oakland Athletics ({{baseball year|1967}}–{{baseball year|1968}}) * Seattle Pilots ({{baseball year|1969}}) * Oakland Athletics ({{baseball year|1970}}–{{baseball year|1972}}) * St. Louis Cardinals ({{baseball year|1972}}–{{baseball year|1973}}) * Boston Red Sox ({{baseball year|1974}}–{{baseball year|1975}}) * Seattle Mariners ({{baseball year|1977}}) | highlights = * AL ERA leader (1970) | hofcolor = #ffd700 | hoflink = Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum | hoftype = Venezuelan | hofdate = 2003 | hofvote = | hofmethod = }}
'''Diego Pablo Seguí González''' ({{IPA|es|ˈdjeɣo ˈpaβlo seˈɣi ɣonˈsales|lang}}; August 17, 1937 – June 24, 2025) was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Washington Senators, Seattle Pilots, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners. Seguí was a forkball specialist who was the 1970 American League ERA leader.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baseball Historian |url=http://www.baseballhistorian.com/html/american_heroes.cfm?page=128 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230025711/http://www.baseballhistorian.com/html/american_heroes.cfm?page=128 |archive-date=December 30, 2008 |website=Baseball Historian}}</ref>
==Professional baseball career== Seguí was born in Holguín, Cuba.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Diego Segui Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/seguidi01.shtml |access-date=February 28, 2023 |website=Baseball Reference |language=en}}</ref>
In 1970 with Oakland, Seguí went 10–10 with two saves in 47 appearances (19 starts) while leading the American League pitchers with a 2.56 ERA.<ref name=":0" />
On December 7, 1973, he was traded by St. Louis along with Reggie Cleveland and Terry Hughes to the Red Sox in exchange for John Curtis, Lynn McGlothen, and Mike Garman.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McQuiston |first=John T. |date=December 8, 1973 |title=MORE TRADES |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/08/archives/more-trades-yankees-obtain-piniella-for-mcdaniel-cleveland-to-red.html |access-date=February 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
thumb|left|180px|Seguí with the Hawaii Islanders in 1961 Seguí holds the unique distinction of having pitched for both of Seattle's major league baseball teams, the Pilots and the Mariners, in the first game ever played by each franchise. In these contests, he earned a hold for the Pilots in 1969, and absorbed the opening-day loss for the Mariners in 1977.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 8, 1969 |title=Seattle Pilots vs California Angels Box Score: April 8, 1969 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL196904080.shtml |access-date=February 28, 2023 |website=Baseball Reference |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 6, 1977 |title=California Angels vs Seattle Mariners Box Score: April 6, 1977 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA197704060.shtml |access-date=February 28, 2023 |website=Baseball Reference |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bEpOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qu0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6593%2C2795796 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Mariners falter before huge crowd |date=April 7, 1977 |page=39}}</ref>
His most productive season came in 1969 for the Pilots, when he posted career-highs in wins (12) and saves (6), against only 6 losses.<ref name=":0" /> At the end of the season, his teammates voted him the Pilots' Most Valuable Player.
After he started the Mariners' inaugural game in 1977, he was dubbed "the Ancient Mariner," and, although he set a Mariners single-game record with 10 strikeouts early in the season on May 5, he failed to get a win the rest of the way. After compiling a 0–7 record with two saves and a 5.69 ERA in 40 games (seven starts), he was released at the end of the season.<ref name=":0" />
Seguí continued pitching in the Mexican League for another 10 years, tossing a no-hitter for the Cafeteros de Córdoba during the 1978 season. During his Mexican stint, he amassed a 96–61 record with a 2.91 ERA and 1,025 strikeouts in 193 pitching appearances.<ref>Treto Cisneros, Pedro (2002). ''The Mexican League/La Liga Mexicana: Comprehensive Player Statistics, 1937–2001''. McFarland & Company. {{ISBN|978-0-78-641378-2}}.</ref>
Seguí also pitched with four teams in the Venezuelan Winter League during 15 seasons between 1962 and 1983. He posted a 95–58 record and a 2.76 ERA in 213 games, setting a league's all-time record with 941 strikeouts, to surpass Aurelio Monteagudo (897) and José Bracho (748). This record is still unbeaten. He also ranks second in wins behind Bracho (109), third in complete games (68), and is fourth both in ERA and innings pitched ({{frac|1249|2|3}}).<ref>Gutiérrez, Daniel; González, Javier (2006); ''Records de la Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional''. LVBP. {{ISBN|978-980-6996-01-4}}</ref>
Seguí was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=Seguí, Diego |url=http://www.museodebeisbol.com.ve/salon_2003.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213232212/http://www.museodebeisbol.com.ve/salon_2003.html |archive-date=December 13, 2013 |access-date=February 28, 2023 |website=Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum}}</ref> He also gained induction into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on August 19, 2006, in San Francisco, California.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hall of Fame |url=https://hhbmhof.com/hall-of-fame/ |access-date=February 28, 2023 |website=Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2024, he was given the Negro Leagues Beisbol Lifetime Achievement Award by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.<ref name=":1" />
==Personal life and death== His son, David Segui, is a former 15-season major league first baseman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Segui Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/seguida01.shtml |access-date=February 28, 2023 |website=Baseball Reference |language=en}}</ref>
Segui died on June 24, 2025, at the age of 87.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=Diego Segui, starting pitcher in Mariners' first game, dies |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45584932/diego-segui-starting-pitcher-mariners-first-game-dies |access-date=June 26, 2025 |agency=Associated Press |website=ESPN.com |date=June 25, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Brady |last=Farkas |date=June 25, 2025 |title=The Man Who Threw the First Pitch in Seattle Mariners History Has Died at the Age of 87 |url=https://www.si.com/mlb/mariners/news/diego-segui-the-man-who-threw-the-first-pitch-in-seattle-mariners-history-has-died-at-the-age-of-87 |access-date=June 25, 2025 |website=Seattle Mariners On SI |language=en-US}}</ref> He is buried at Chapel Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in Kansas City.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Diego Segui Obituary - Kansas City, KS |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/kansas-city-ks/diego-segui-12434116 |website=Dignity Memorial}}</ref>
==See also== * List of Major League Baseball players from Cuba * List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=121978 |espn= |br=s/seguidi01 |fangraphs= |brm=segui-001die |retro=S/Psegud101 |almanac=}} * {{SABR Baseball Biography Project|f25c9120}} * {{IMDb name| 2972127}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ach}} {{succession box | title=Opening Day starting pitcher<br/> for the Seattle Mariners | before= ''New team'' | years=1977 | after= Glenn Abbott}} {{s-end}}
{{Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame}} {{AL ERA champions}} {{Oakland Athletics Opening Day starting pitchers}} {{Seattle Mariners Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segui, Diego}} Category:1937 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Acereros de Monclova players Category:American League ERA champions Category:Boston Red Sox players Category:Bravos de León players Category:Broncos de Reynosa players Category:Cafeteros de Córdoba players Category:Hawaii Islanders players Category:Industriales de Valencia players Category:Kansas City Athletics players Category:Leones de Yucatán players Category:Leones del Caracas players Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Category:Llaneros de Portuguesa players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Major League Baseball players from Cuba Category:20th-century Cuban sportsmen Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Category:Oakland Athletics players Category:Sportspeople from Holguín Category:Baseball players from Holguín Province Category:Pocatello Athletics players Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Seattle Mariners players Category:Seattle Pilots players Category:Sioux City Soos players Category:Tigres de Aragua players Category:Tucson Cowboys players Category:Vancouver Mounties players Category:Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in Nicaragua