Nelson Figueroa
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Nelson Figueroa (born May 18, 1974) is an American professional baseball player from Brooklyn, New York. He attended the prestigious Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where he pitched for three years and earned a bachelors degree in American Studies. He was drafted 833rd overall by the New York Mets in the 30th round of the 1995 MLB Amateur Draft and was subsequently traded along with outfielder Bernard Gilkey to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jorge Fabergas, Willie Blair and cash considerations. The righthanded starting pitcher and occassional long reliever stands at 6'1, 155 pounds. He features a fastball, slider, curveball and breaking ball.
Figueroa made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks during the 2000 season, becoming the first Brandeis University alumnus to reach the major leagues. Figueroa started in three games that year and compiled an 0-1 record and a 7.47 ERA. On July 26, 2000, Figueroa was traded with Vicente Padilla, Travis Lee, and Omar Daal to the Philadelphia Phillies for Curt Schilling. Figueroa spent the rest of the 2000 season pitching for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre of the International League (AAA), compiling a record of 4-3 and an ERA of 3.78.
In 2001, Figueroa tossed 89 innings for the Phillies and finished the season with a 4-5 record and 3.94 ERA. The righthander was claimed off waivers on October 11, 2002 by the Milwaukee Brewers. Figueroa spent one season in Milwaukee where he regressed to a 1-7 record and 5.03 ERA. He then signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 6, 2003. Figueroa spent most of the 2003 season pitching for Nashville, the AAA affiliate of the Pirates. He was promoted late in the season and went 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA for Pittsburgh.
After a brief unsuccessful stint with the Pirates in 2004, Figueroa took a year off from baseball. He signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals early in 2006 and spent the season pitching for AAA New Orleans, where he posted a 4.38 ERA in 76 innings of work.
[edit] Trivia
- Off the field, Figueroa is an artist who helped design patriotic t-shirts for Major League Baseball in the aftermath of 9/11. The shirts were sold to raise money for charity.
- Figueroa converted to Judaism in 2003.
