Random Topps Card of the Day: 1977 Topps #653 Diego Segui

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, June 10, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1977 Topps #653.
• Player Name, position, team: Diego Segui, pitcher, Seattle Mariners.
• Major League Debut: April 12, 1962.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Red Sox): 33 G, 71 IP, 2-5, 41 R, 38 ER, 45 SO, 43 BB, 4.82 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Redlegs as a Free Agent before the 1958 season. Contract purchased by the Mariners from the Padres 10/22/1976. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his fourteenth and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: Funny how baseball works. One year you pitch in the World Series with the Red Sox (the picture on this card shows today's subject wearing a jersey with the Sox' red trim although there is no logo on the batting helmet), the next you're stuck in the minors for a whole season. Such was the tale of Diego Segui's career. An established veteran pitcher with the A's (three stints), Senators, Pilots (one of the few who can lay claim to that honor), Cardinals, and Red Sox, Segui had compiled a record of 92-104 and an ERA of 3.68 with 1,207 strikeouts in more than 599 games pitched as a starter and reliever. After the '75 World Series, Segui was released by the Red Sox. Unable to find a MLB team to sign him, he signed a minor league deal with the Padres' AAA-team in Hawaii. It would be his third go-around with the Hawaii Islanders with three different organizations: the Washington Senators, the Kansas City Athletics, and now the Padres. Already a legend in the Aloha State, Segui would guide the Islanders to an incredible 11-5 record with a 3.18 ERA to go with 105 strikeouts in 147 innings of work. After the 1976 season concluded, the expansion Seattle Mariners took a chance and signed Diego to a one year deal. Rejuvenated by the return to Seattle, not only did he make the team out of spring training, he was their first ever starting pitcher. Unfortunately, the Angels spoiled Segui's homecoming, and the Mariners lost the game 7-0. Segui would finish the 1977 season with an 0-7 record, a career worst 5.69 ERA, two saves, and strikeout 91 batters in 40 games (7 were starts). Unable to find the form that once made him one of the games more unique pitchers, Segui would pitch his last season with Cordoba in the Mexican League. After retiring, he watched his son David develop into a bonafide major leaguer in his own right. The SABR BioProject has a very in-depth article about the career of Diego Segui that can be accessed here.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 1 card.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1993 Topps Traded #73T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama