Jean Segura Day

Happy Jean Segura day, to those who celebrate.

On April 19th 2021, Segura legged out a double in a close game, escaping the tag while sliding into second base. While sprawled on the dirt, he motioned to the dugout to keep the ball commemorating the historic hit. The Giants, the classy organization that they are, seemingly did not challenge the play so as not to ruin this hallmark moment of Segura's career.

I understand if you think that I'm upset by this play, and that I haven't gotten over it a year later but that’s not the case. There's just no clear explanation for why he was so invested in that moment.

It's just. so. weird.

Is the 200 doubles club a thing? I've never heard of it before. Is 200 doubles a lot? While it's more than I've hit, there's currently 1,088 players who've done it.

Is it the culmination of Segura's career? Segura's a good player, he' was 31 at the time and had an OPS+ of 111 in 2021. He's not a player doing a retirement tour, staring at the end of his career. He'll continue to hit doubles and could reach 250 or 300. He's currently at 224 doubles. He's a player that should be celebrated, but this seems like an odd, sad way to do it.

Is 200 personally significant to Segura? Maybe he set a goal early on to play for 10 years and hit 200 doubles and now he can proudly cross that off his list. While that would be very cool, that type of thing doesn't usually rise to stopping the game and taking a curtain call on the field.

Were the fans asking for a curtain call or did he just give them one? I don't know what Phillies fans' relationship with Segura is but it seems unlikely they were cheering for his career mark, and much more likely that they were excited about 2 on with none out in a 2-0 game (The Giants got out of the inning and won 2-0).

What the heck was it about?

It doesn’t matter. It was perplexing in real time and fun to reference any time a player reaches a benchmark that ends in a zero.

Maybe Giants fans are spoiled. Listening to Kruk and Kuip and Miller and Fleming, players and their careers are always appreciated and celebrated. I'd bet anything one of them picked Freddie Sanchez on the day he hit his 200th career double and talked about his career and how he's a Good Giant. It would've been a good pick.