Remembering Diego Segui, the first pitcher in Seattle Mariners history

Diego Segui holds a special place in the history of the Seattle Mariners organization. As such, we were saddened to learn about his passing on Tuesday at the age of 87.

Segui threw the inaugural pitch in the first regular season game in Mariners history, on April 6, 1977 in front of 57,762 fans at the Kingdome. Coming eight years after appearing in the first ever game for the Seattle Pilots, this gave him the distinction of being the only player to ever pitch for both teams.

By the time the Holguin, Cuba native landed in Pacific Northwest with the Mariners, he'd already enjoyed 14 years in the majors. This included leading baseball with a 2.56 ERA and the AL with a career-best 139 ERA+ while as a member of the then-Oakland Athletics in 1970.

Diego Segui was a quirky personality

Segui was both an intriguing individual who, as per Joanne Hulbert of SABR, use to exasperate batters and umpires with his repertoire of pitches and mound quirks. Games seemed to take an eternity, as he would rub the ball between every pitch, take leisurely strolls around the edge of the mound, rearranged the dirt in front of the pitcher’s rubber and so on.

However, whoever the righty played for accepted his quirks, as he had a tremendous work ethic and was the ultimate teammate, never complaining about his role whether he was used as a starter or reliever. He was actually a natural left-hander, but he made a living as a right-handed pitcher in large part because of how effectively his trademark forkball silenced left-handed hitters.

A innate ability to attract almost surreal headlines

Segui experienced a number of headline moments during his baseball career, including being among those not to return home by the end of November in 1961, as ordered by Cuban sports commissioner Jose Llanura in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. Despite the threat of losing all his property and being required to have a 1962 contract in order to receive a visa, the pitcher stayed in the United States to pursue his dream of a career in the majors, which subsequently came to fruition.

Other headline moments involved confronting former MLB catcher Joe Garagiola, who had become a broadcaster following his retirement and crticized Segui's pitching prior to the 1975 World Series. On the more positive side, Segui actually relieved Satchel Paige during a game in 1965 for the Athletics, who was making the final appearance of his MLB career at the age of 59.

Segui himself would not see any more MLB action following the 1977 season with the Mariners, but did continue pitching in Mexico until 1984. And In a wonderful and fitting case of things going full circle, his grandson Cory would throw the final pitch in Kingdome history in 1999.

As with plenty of other people, our thoughts are with the Segui family during what is undoubtedly a tough and emotional time. However, we will also remember him with a smile on our faces, thanks to a life which is worth celebrating.