Staff writer Melissa Segura made an immediate impression at SI. As an undergraduate intern in 2001, her reporting helped reveal that Danny Almonte, star of the Little League World Series, was 14, two years older than the maximum age allowed in Little League. Segura has since developed into one of SI's Major League Baseball insiders, specializing in Latin American issues while covering a range of sports she has seen transformed by Latino athletes. She is a frequent contributor to SI.com and wrote a number of profiles for SI LATINO. In 2009 she broke the story that MLB had discovered that Washington Nationals prospect Esmailyn Gonzalez, who had been signed to a team-record $1.4 million bonus in 2006, was really Carlos Alvarez, and that he was four years older than he had claimed to be.

Segura graduated with honors from Santa Clara University in 2001 with a B.A. in Spanish studies and communications (with an emphasis in journalism). Before joining SI full-time in 2002, she worked for The Santa Fe New Mexican and covered high school sports for The Record (Bergen County, NJ).

Segura says Gary Smith is the SI staffer she would most want to trade places with for a day. "I'd love to learn how he cuts to the heart of his subjects," she says. "And, for once, to know what it's like to make sentences sing."

EXTRA POINTS

• Favorite SI Vault story: Higher Education (March 5, 2001) and Crime and Punishment (June 24, 1996) by Gary Smith
• Writers who have inspired your work: "Gary Smith is the reason I wanted to work at SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. The depth of his reporting paired with the innovation of his writing makes him one of my favorite reads. He redefines journalism."
• Favorite book: "Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. As a Spanish literature major, I had the privilege of studying his work not only for his striking style, but for his commentary on contemporary Latin America."
• Hobbies: "Marathoning, community service."

Updated 21 October 2009