Ray Fontenot

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#ba313c
bgcolor2=#0d2b56
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Ray Fontenot
position=Pitcher
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1957|8|8
debutdate=June 30
debutyear=by|1983
debutteam=New York Yankees
finaldate=October 1
finalyear=by|1986
finalteam=Minnesota Twins
stat1label=ERA
stat1value=4.02
stat2label=Record
stat2value=25-26
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=216
teams=
*New York Yankees (1983-1984)
*Chicago Cubs (1985-1986)
*Minnesota Twins (1986)
highlights=
*none

Silton Ray Fontenot (born August 8, 1957 in Lake Charles, Louisiana) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for four seasons between 1983 and 1986. He played for three teams in those four years – the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins. Statistically, he compares to Jim Davis.

Fontenot, a 6'0", 175 pound left-hander, was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 34th round (815th overall) of the 1979 amateur entry draft. 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 on June 30, 1983 against the Baltimore Orioles at the age of 25, filling in for the injured Ron Guidry. In that game, he gave up only one earned run in 5 2/3 innings, but still got only a no-decision. For his rookie year, in 15 games started, he went 8-2 with a 3.33 ERA. He even threw three complete games and one shutout. Even though it seemed as if he had a propensity for getting a lot strikeouts in the minors, he struck out only 27 in 93+ innings in his rookie season. 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 in his Major League career. Oft-injured, he was used as a starter/reliever in 1984 and 1985 (he pitched in a total of 73 games combined those years, starting 47 of them). He gave up 23 home runs in 1985, 5th most in the league. In 1986 he was used entirely as a reliever, appearing in 57 games for an ERA of 5.23. He threw 6 wild pitches that year, about one every 12 innings.

Overall in his career, he went 25 and 26 with a 4.03 ERA. He struck out 216 and walked 153 in just over 493 innings pitched. He was a terrible batter, collecting only 3 hits in 48 career at-bats, for a .062 career batting average. He had a .919 career fielding percentage. He played his final game on October 1, 1986.

Major transactions

*As one of the players to be named later, Fontenot was sent by the Rangers to the Yankees on October 8, 1979 to complete a deal made on August 1, 1979. In the end, the Rangers ended up sending Fontenot, Oscar Gamble, Gene Nelson and minor leaguer Amos Lewis for Mickey Rivers and minor leaguers Bob Polinsky, Neal Mersch and Mark Softy.
*With Brian Dayett, Fontenot was sent by the Yankees to the Cubs for Porfi Altamirano, Rich Bordi, Henry Cotto, and Ron Hassey on December 4, 1984.
*On August 13, 1986, the Cubs sent Fontenot, George Frazier and minor leaguer Julius McDougal to the Twins for Ron Davis and minor leaguer Dewayne Coleman.

Other information

*Was teammates with Rex Hudler and Brian Dayett for 5 years, longer than any other teammates.
*He wore four numbers in his career: 47 and 57 in 1983, 47 in 1984, 31 in 1985 and part of 1986, and 37 in part of 1986.
*He earned $200,000 in 1985 and $240,000 in 1986.
*Would often speak in French with teammate and Louisiana native Ron Guidry.

External links

*baseball-reference|id=f/fontera01