At the age of 87, Diego Segu, a Cuban journeyman who pitched for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball and another 10 in the Mexican League, passed away on Tuesday.
Holguin, Cuba, is where Segu was born. In 1958, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, but they cut him. He began his journey to the majors by pitching for Tucson, a team in the unaffiliated Class C Arizona-League. They sold the right-hander to the Athletics, who he played for for nine of his fifteen major league seasons, including his first season in Oakland in 68, his final season in Kansas City in 67, and his debut in 62. Segu’s 2.56 ERA during 47 games earned him the American League ERA title with the 70 A’s.
Segu pitched for the first and only Seattle Pilots team in 1969 (they were moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers the next year) and the Washington Senators in 1966. He was voted the Pilots’ squad MVP.
Segu was dealt to the Red Sox by the Cardinals in December 73 after being traded from Oakland to St. Louis during the 72 season. He stayed in Boston for the next two years. He matched his career-high of 12 strikeouts from Sept. 6, 1964, in 7.2 innings on Sept. 22, 1974, breaking the Red Sox single-game record most strikeouts by a reliever. It was Segu’s first double-digit strikeout effort since 1965 and one of five in his career.
Segu and fellow Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant, who died on October 8 of last year, were teammates on the Red Sox. When Fidel Castro slammed the doors in 1961, both men had made the painful choice to stay away from their native country.
Segu pitched in 33 games during the regular season for Boston’s 75-win squad at the age of 37. When Tiant was out due to a shoulder injury on July 29, he pitched a whole game and struck out 11 in a 4-0 loss to Milwaukee. Segu made his first World Series appearance and his second and last postseason appearance in Game 5 of the World Series.
In 1977, Segu returned to Seattle for his last Major League Baseball season. He threw the first pitch in Mariners history there at the age of forty. He pitched in the first game of each Seattle club, making him the only player to play for both.
Despite having a 3.81 ERA across 639 games at the end of his MLB career, Segu kept pitching. He was on the mound in the Mexican League from 78 to 84. Additionally, he played winter ball in Venezuela for almost 20 years, and in 2003, he was inducted into the Venezuelan Hall of Fame.
David, Segu’s son, also played in the major leagues for 15 seasons.
