Ray Fontenot

Silton Ray Fontenot

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
• School McNeese State University
• High School LaGrange High School (Lake Charles)
• Debut June 30, 1983
• Final Game October 1, 1986
• Born August 8, 1957 in Lake Charles, LA USA

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Biographical Information

Ray Fontenot was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 34th round (815th overall) of the 1979 amateur draft. He was traded to the New York Yankees only a few months later, in a trade that also featured Oscar Gamble, Gene Nelson and Mickey Rivers. He had great success in the minors, with a minor league ERA of 3.16. He also struck out 377 batters in 399+ innings pitched. He was used mostly as a starter in the minors, although he was used as a reliever in 1983.

He made his Major League debut with the Yankees on June 30, 1983, filling in for the injured Ron Guidry. Even though it seemed as if he had a propensity for getting a lot strikeouts in the minors, he only struck 27 batters in 93+ innings in his rookie season, during which he won 8 and lost only 2 games. In fact, throughout the rest of his career, he would never be a real strikeout pitcher, with his career high being seven in a game - which he accomplished twice.

Often injured, he gave up 23 home runs with the Chicago Cubs in 1985 - the 5th most in the National League. He threw 6 wild pitches that year, or about one every 12 innings.

He was a teammate of Rex Hudler and Brian Dayett for 5 years, longer than anyone else. He wore four uniform numbers in his career: 47 and 57 in 1983, 47 in 1984, 31 in 1985 and part of 1986, and 37 for part of 1986.

He would often speak in French with teammate and Louisiana native Ron Guidry.