Jean Segura parents Carlos Enrique Segura de la Rosa and Anny Maribel Encarnación are Dominican baseball players.
“El Mambo” was born on March 17, 1990, which makes him 32 years old as of 2022. He recalls growing up with his sister Jessica Mariel and brother Jeffry Michael Segura Encarnación in a home with dirt floors, wood walls, and tin roof.
Jean’s hometown of San Juan de la Maguana is a 3-hour car ride away from the Dominican Republic’s capital city of Santo Domingo. His dad Carlos Enrique recalls Jean having an interest in baseball since the age of three.
Being Dominicans, baseball was in the blood of the Segura family. Carlos always took Jean to his games which sparked a lifelong interest in the young boy. “From such a stick, such a splinter,” Carlos said recalling his boy’s childhood but in Spanish.
Jean’s mother Anny played softball, the baseball equivalent which is more popular among women’s teams in the Dominican Republic. Jean briefly lost interest in baseball when he was 12, getting more into basketball, the most glamorized sport among American sports.
But, after a friend of Carlos saw Jean play baseball, he recognized his talent and enrolled him in a program, for which Jean had to leave school at the age of 15.
“At the time, probably it was not the best situation for me or best choice I made in my life, because when you are young and you quit school to play sports it’s not right, it’s not what the kids are supposed to do,” Jean said in an interview with Seattle Sports in 2018.
In 2007, at 16, Jean was signed by his first team, the Los Angeles Angels. He gave the signing bonus of $70,000, a big sum of money for the young boy of just 16, to repair his parents’ house.
“I gave all my signing bonus to my family. We kind of spent all of the money on the house but the money always goes away, comes back and forth, but the good thing was we have a house, we live comfortable, and when I bring a friend to the house we can represent.”Jean said.
Today, despite his huge success, Carlos and Anny insist on living humbly, a trait that has been passed down to their youngest son.
