Former Phillie Jean Segura on his decision to retire, and why Philly will always be ‘No. 1’ for him

Jean Segura had been thinking about retirement for about a year and a half. After the Phillies declined to pick up his club option for the 2023 season, he signed with the Marlins.

The Marlins traded him to the Guardians on Aug. 1 that year, but he was immediately released. He signed a minor-league contract with the Orioles in 2024 but played only 14 games before he was released from their triple-A club, too.

Segura made it official on Wednesday night, announcing the end of his professional baseball career through his agency, CAA.

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“I received a couple of offers,” Segura, 35, told The Inquirer on Thursday. “To sit on the bench, play once in a while. And the type of player that I am, I know it’s not going to work for me, because I need reps, I need to play every day, I need time to get going.

“After I spent 12 years in the majors playing every day, I don’t want to end my career sitting in the dugout, when my family really needs time with me.”

Segura made his big-league debut in 2012 with the Angels. Over his 12 seasons, he played for the Brewers, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Phillies and Marlins, hitting .281/.327/.401 with a career strikeout rate of only 13.9%.

But he said his four years in Philadelphia ranked “No. 1.” They were full of memorable moments, big and small. Segura sparked the Phillies’ improbable postseason run in 2022 with his go-ahead, two-run single to right field in the ninth inning against the Cardinals, leading the Phillies to a 6-3 win in their first game of the wild-card series.

In Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Padres later that month, the second baseman provided the go-ahead hit, again, with a line drive single in the fourth to drive in two runs.

He also set a record that may never be broken, becoming the first player in playoff history to commit an error, record an RBI and get picked off all in one inning. It was the perfect stat for a man who could only be described as unique.

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“Philly’s been awesome to me,” he said. “Even when I [got] out [of Philadelphia], there were still fans reaching out, they always supported me. They [were] always there. Maybe ‘cause I came through in the big moments, in the pressure moments.

“I know they’re a little tough, too, when you’re struggling, and they let you know when you need to get better. But that’s Philadelphia. And at the end of the day, they’re the best fans I’ve ever had in my career. Because they care about the game, they care about the players, they love you, but at the same point they let you know, we need you to get better.

“They love the Eagles, they love the Sixers, they’re really passionate about the sport. That’s why they call it the City of [Brotherly] Love, you know?”

Not all of Segura’s well-known moments were consequential. In 2021, he went viral for an interaction with a fan at Nationals Park, who asked him what his favorite ice cream flavor was in the ninth inning.

He yelled, “vanilla,” smiled, and hit an RBI double to tie the game. That one still makes him laugh.

“I was so locked in,” he said. “And a lot of time when you’re too locked in it’s not good, because what you do is you stress yourself out. The more you relax, the more chance you’re going to have to make a good swing.

“She’s like, ‘Segura, what’s your favorite ice cream? And I say, ‘Vanilla!’ And boom, I hit a double.”

There was also his nickname, Jimmy Cigs, which was borne out of a closed-captioning error on the NBC Sports Philadelphia telecast in August 2020.

Instead of listing his name, “Jean Segura,” the closed captioning wrote “James Cigarettes,” which fans quickly abbreviated to “Jimmy Cigs.” Segura embraced it, but did not understand where it came from.

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“I heard a lot of people saying that,” he said. “And one day there was a blue jeans section [in the stands] and they were calling me Jimmy Cigs. I was like, is it something to do with Jimmy Butler?

“I don’t know. Did Jimmy Butler do that? And they call me, Jimmy? I don’t know.”

Ice cream and nicknames aside, Segura’s story was one of perseverance. He grew up in San Juan de la Maguana, a city in the western part of the Dominican Republic, in a house that had dirt floors and an aluminum roof.

His father worked at a bank and his mother sold food on the street: sancocho, a stew that is popular in the Caribbean, as well as rice, chicken, and beef. When they weren’t working their day jobs, they ran a local taxi service.

He signed with the Angels in 2007 for $70,000. He was traded to Milwaukee three days after his big-league debut in 2012, and two years later, suffered the loss of his first son, Janniel, from a previous relationship. The baby was 9 months old. He found out after a game in July.

Segura said it damaged his mental health. He thought about quitting right then and there. But his friend, Robinson Canó, took him under his wing.

“He brought me to his hometown in the Dominican Republic [that offseason] to work out together,” Segura said. “He brought me to this facility, he paid for everything, including hotel for me to stay, and helped me with how to get ready for the season. What I needed to have success. Because he was already there. He has a lot of success.”

Segura bounced back in 2016 with Arizona, putting together one of the best seasons of his career. He hit .319/.368/.499 with 203 hits, and finished 13th in NL MVP voting.

His life is a lot different now. He lives in Miami with his three children and his wife, Kellen. His kids are young — ages 10, 7, and 6 — and for now, he wants to soak up as much time with them as he can.

That means cooking dinner on weeknights, going to birthday parties, and never missing a parent-teacher conference. At some point, he might want to get back into baseball, maybe in a front office role. But he’s not in a rush.

“I don’t really have any plans for later in my career, because I have three children I have to raise up,” he said. “I need to be there for them when they really need me. I’ll figure it out later, when they go to college and get out of the house, and see how it feels.”