Diego Seguí

Diego Pablo Seguí González [say-gee] (born August 17, 1937) is a Cuban former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Athletics, Washington Senators, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Pilots, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox. and Seattle Mariners. Seguí was a forkball specialist who was the 1970 American League ERA leader.[1]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Seguí and the second or maternal family name is González.
Diego Seguí
Diego Seguí in 1969
Pitcher
Born: (1937-08-17) August 17, 1937
Holguín, Cuba
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 12, 1962, for the Kansas City Athletics
Last MLB appearance
September 24, 1977, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Win–loss record92–111
Earned run average3.81
Strikeouts1,298
Saves71
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Professional baseball career

Seguí was born in Holguín, Cuba. In 1970 with Oakland, Seguí won 10 games as a reliever and starter, while leading the American League pitchers with a 2.56 ERA.

On June 7, 1972, he was traded by St. Louis along with Reggie Cleveland and Terry Hughes to the Red Sox, in the same trade that brought John Curtis, Lynn McGlothen and Mike Garman to the Cardinals.

Seguí 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 save for the Pilots in 1969, and absorbed the opening-day loss for the Mariners in 1977.

His most productive season came in 1969 for the Pilots, when he posted career-highs in wins (12) and saves (6), against only six losses. 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 Mariner 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 a 5.69 ERA, he was released at the end of the season.

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.[2]

Seguí also pitched for 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 (1249⅔).[3]

Seguí was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2003. He also gained induction into the Hispanic Heritage Museum Hall of Fame on August 19, 2006 in San Francisco, California. His son, David Seguí, is a former major league first baseman.

See also

References
  1. Baseball HistorianArchived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Treto Cisneros, Pedro (2002). The Mexican League/La Liga Mexicana: Comprehensive Player Statistics, 1937–2001. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-78-641378-2
  3. Gutiérrez, Daniel; González, Javier (2006); Records de la Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional. LVBP. ISBN 978-980-6996-01-4
Preceded by
New team		 Opening Day starting pitcher
for the Seattle Mariners
1977		 Succeeded by
Glenn Abbott
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