“I’ve been playing baseball since I was four and just finished playing in Taiwan this September, and just couldn’t say no to SNY’s offer,” said the 41-year-old Nelson Figueroa who grew up in Coney Island and now makes his home in Arizona. Figueroa was Lincoln High School’s star pitcher in 1992 then went off to star at Brandeis University in his 1995 season.
After broadcasting the July 16 Cyclone-Yankee game, SNY’s new lead baseball analyst jumped at the opportunity to do the game at MCU Park to visit his dad on his birthday along with the rest of his family still living in Coney Island.
Returning to MCU Park was a homecoming for Figueroa since this would be his first time at the park since its construction during 2000. “I used to train by running down the Boardwalk with my brothers,” said the Coney Island native who grew up in the projects at West 33rd Street and Mermaid Avenue.
Motioning down towards the MCU ballpark field from the press box, Figueroa stated, “This was a vacant lot next to the crumbling Thunderbolt roller coaster where we’d play pick up games of baseball and football.”
Becoming Brandeis’ first graduate to be drafted to the major leagues in 1995, Figueroa along with Bernard Gilkey was traded from the Mets to the Arizona Diamondbacks where he made his made his major league debut in June of 2000. Playing with seven major league teams including a 2008-2009 return to the Mets, Figueroa finished his playing days in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan in 2014.
After originally screen testing for a MLB analyst spot, Figueroa got a golden opportunity when SNY’s lead analyst and also former New York Met Bobby Ojeda left the station in February. Now doing the pre-game and post game analysis of each New York Met game, the former hurler in his first broadcast job stated, “I’m learning a lot on the fly and I have tremendous support from the cast around me.”
Commenting on MCU Park and all the recent changes in Coney Island, Figueroa said, “This might be as good as it gets for a ball player until they hit the high minor league levels or the major leagues. It’s amazing what they’ve done to this area.”
When asked if he misses pitching, the 14-year journeyman pitcher who traded his spikes for a microphone said, “Of course; that goes without saying!”
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