He appeared in 404 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) over six seasons (1958–1963) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Athletics and Cleveland Indians.

He graduated from Fairfax High School and matriculated at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where he played varsity baseball and football.

[3] Essegian entered professional baseball by signing with the independently-operated Sacramento Solons of the Open-Classification Pacific Coast League in 1953.

After spending four full years with Sacramento or its affiliates, Essegian was acquired by the Phillies in 1957, then joined the Philadelphia varsity in 1958, getting into 39 MLB games and bashing five home runs.

[6][7] After Essegian’s baseball career ended, he earned a law degree and became an attorney in Southern California, retiring in 1987.