Figueroa comes back to Coney Island
“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.