Project Durham Bulls #47 - Ed Figueroa

1968 Raleigh-Durham Mets 

Background- 

Figueroa joined the Mets organization in 1966.  He spent his first few seasons bouncing around between the Mets Rookie League and A Ball teams.  In 1968, he joined the Mets Carolina League team, the Raleigh-Durham Mets, formerly the Durham Bulls, for seven games.  Figueroa's ERA was over 6, he hurt his arm, and he was then drafted into the Marines for the Vietnam War.  He spent 1969 in Vietnam before returning to baseball in 1970, signing with the Giants as a free agent.  Figueroa would eventually find his way onto the Angels, who then traded him with Mickey Rivers to the Yankees for Bobby Bonds.  

Figueroa had four really good year during his eight year career starting in 1975 with the Angels.  He won 16, 19, and 20 games for the Yankees from 1976 through 1978.  While he did not pitch well in the postseason, Figueroa was a key part of the Yankees World Series teams in both 1977 and 1978.  He only won 10 games over the last three years of his career, but retired as the only Puerto Rican born pitcher to have ever won 20 games in a single season.  

Card- 

Upper Deck had some really good product out in the mid 2000s with some older signers.  There were some that were centered around the Yankees, which is actually where I thought I would get an autograph of Ed Figueroa if there was one available.  However, I like these Timeless Teams autographs too, which came out in 2005.  The set is based around World Series teams, and while there are some big names from big teams in the product, there is also a good blend of players whose names are not household names.  In many ways, this set reminds me a lot of some of the Topps Archives sets in terms of the autograph checklist with just a little bit more focus.